Championship promotion race: Supercomputer makes new playoff prediction involving Wrexham and Birmingham
Wrexham are now being backed to finish in the Championship playoff places ahead of Birmingham City and Southampton by Opta.
Wrexham moved back into the Championship top six with a 5-3 win over automatic promotion chasers Ipswich Town on home turf over the weekend.
Phil Parkinson’s side emerged victorious in a classic second-tier encounter, as the likes of Kieffer Moore, Josh Windass and Nathan Broadhead all got on the scoresheet in North Wales.
Their story has been nothing short of remarkable so far, with Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac leading the club to the Championship with three consecutive promotions so far.
Wrexham are now chasing an unprecedented fourth straight promotion into the Premier League, and are predicted to make the top six after the latest round of fixtures.
Opta predict Wrexham to finish in the Championship playoff places
The race to make the top six is wide open, with just four points separating sixth-placed Wrexham and 13th-placed QPR as it stands.
Birmingham City also won promotion to the second tier last season as League One champions, and their recent run of strong form has seen them move up into seventh, just two points behind the Red Dragons.
They are also part-owned by a big name from the USA in Tom Brady, but Opta believe that Wrexham will just about pip the Blues to the playoffs come 2 May.
Phil Parkinson’s side are expected to pick up 69 points and have a 39.22 per cent chance of making the playoffs, while Birmingham have been given a 23.08 per cent chance, with 67 expected points.
- Read more: Supercomputer makes updated Championship relegation prediction after West Brom and Leicester latest
Which clubs do Opta think will be relegated from the Championship?
The latest round of results has seen some daylight emerge between 20th-placed Blackburn and 21st-placed West Brom, with Leicester still stuck in the relegation zone alongside Oxford and already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday.
Leicester recently hired Gary Rowett as their new manager until the end of the season, and he guided them to a 2-2 draw at Stoke City on Saturday in his first game in charge.
That result closed the gap to one point between them and Eric Ramsay’s side, who lost 2-0 to Coventry, and Opta are predicting that West Brom will be the club to drop into League One for next term.
They have been given an expected points total of 49, with a 49.08 per cent chance of being relegated from the Championship, alongside both Oxford and Sheffield Wednesday.
Leicester, meanwhile, are now expected to pick up 50 points, and they have a 36.24 per cent chance of going down, with Blackburn, Charlton and Portsmouth all also avoiding the drop above them.