Bournemouth meet Nottingham Forest on Tuesday with both teams looking to gain automatic promotion to the Premier League. We delve into how the 2021/22 Championship has panned out and what may transpire at the final weekend.
Fulham were crowned winners of the Championship following an emphatic 7-0 win over Luton Town on Monday night. Marco Silva’s side have been a stronghold throughout the campaign, picking up 27 wins from 45 matches. Last week the Cottagers secured automatic promotion with an 11-point cushion over 3rd-placed Nottingham Forest who had three games left to play.
Aleksandar Mitrović netted twice on Monday to take his season tally to 43 goals, the most ever goals scored by any player in the English second division. Last term Brentford’s Ivan Toney became the first player to exceed 30 goals in the Championship, however Mitrović has since smashed that record to help guide Fulham back to the summit of the football league pyramid after one season away.
👑 Congratulations, @FulhamFC! #EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/OJ1rrNBk1c
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) May 2, 2022
Bournemouth and Forest battle it out on Tuesday with just three points separating the sides ahead of kick-off at the Vitality Stadium. Victory for Bournemouth would seal promotion for the Cherries, but a draw or a Forest win would leave the final automatic promotion place to be decided on the final day of the league season. Under Scott Parker, Bournemouth have accrued 82 points from 44 games and they have lost eight times this term, fewer than any other team in the division.
Nottingham Forest have endured a meteoric rise since Steve Cooper took charge, with Forest in 22nd position at the time of Cooper’s appointment last September. Forest have taken 22 wins in 36 games with Cooper at the helm, during which time they have tasted defeat only five times – one fewer than the team lost in the opening seven games of the season under Chris Hughton. Forest also disposed of 14-time FA Cup winners Arsenal and current Cup holders Leicester City before they fell short to Liverpool in the quarter-finals.
Level with Forest on 79 points are Huddersfield Town, albeit an inferior goal difference means Huddersfield cannot finish higher than 3rd and they will partake in the promotion play-offs. A handful of teams are bidding to snatch the final two play-off slots with Sheffield United and Luton Town currently placed 5th and 6th, respectively, on 72 points apiece. Middlesbrough trail the pair by two points with Millwall a further point behind Boro.
Sheffield Utd welcome champions Fulham for both teams’ final league game of the campaign, whilst Luton host Reading, and Middlesbrough travel to Preston North End. Bournemouth entertain Millwall, and Forest visit Hull City.
🔝 How’s that look, @FulhamFC fans?!#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/YtN44NV8pI
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) May 2, 2022
While two of the three promoted teams are still to be determined, relegation from the Championship is already a closed case with Derby County, Peterborough and Barnsley all demoted to the third-tier of the Football League. Derby were hit with a 12-point deduction after the club entered administration in September, and this penalty was later exacerbated with a further 9-point deduction to leave the Rams all but certain of relegation to League One.
Given the circumstances Derby manager Wayne Rooney has put in a monumental shift in trying to steer Derby clear of the drop. Rooney’s Rams have collected 14 wins – equal to the amount of wins Peterborough and Barnsley have earned, combined, thus far. Ultimately the 21-point deduction proved too great to overcome, however Rooney and his players have produced a tremendous effort in Derby’s fight for survival.
Norwich City were relegated from the Premier League after a single season in the top-flight, a trend which has repeated itself twice in three years. Watford are 10 points from safety with four games remaining, and could go down as early as this weekend with a defeat at Crystal Palace. Burnley, Everton and Leeds Utd are all involved in a relegation scrap and the trio are separated by three points with four matchweeks remaining. Burnley have played Premier League football for six years, and Everton have been in the top-tier of English football every year since 1954.
Wigan Athletic have been crowned champions of League One and the Latics return to the Championship after two years away. Rotherham Utd have secured promotion to the Championship while the quartet of MK Dons, Sheffield United, Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers will contest the play-offs for the third and final promotion berth to the second-tier.
