Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Sun 22 March 2026 12:45, UK

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Coventry City are certain to win the Championship, according to the supercomputer, but the battle for the second automatic promotion place is heating up.

The Sky Blues beat Swansea City 3-0 at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday, with Brandon Thomas-Asante, Matt Grimes and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto all scoring in an 11-minute flurry before half-time.

With Middlesbrough drawing away at Blackburn Rovers hours before, Coventry now find themselves nine points clear at the top of the table with just seven games remaining, and with a 98.26 per cent chance of lifting the title.

Below Frank Lampard’s team, the race for the second automatic promotion place continues to take twists and turns.

Middlesbrough’s main challengers, Ipswich Town and Millwall, drew 1-1 at Portman Road to save Boro’s blushes for another week, while Hull City’s 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday has seen them go within three points.

Supercomputer updates Championship promotion race prediction

Southampton have been backed to make the play-offs, and after beating Oxford United on Saturday, they have now leapfrogged Wrexham into sixth.

The race remains open, however, with there being just six points separating fifth-placed Hull City and eighth-placed Derby County.

Southampton will certainly feel confident that they can finish in the top six now, however, and Opta‘s supercomputer has strengthened their chances to 68.92 per cent.

The fiercer race perhaps comes at the top of the table, however, where Middlesbrough, Ipswich and Millwall are locked in a three-way battle for the second automatic promotion place.

Just two points separate the three teams, with Boro currently hanging on despite a collapse over the last month.

Kim Hellberg’s team have won just two of their last eight games, despite having previously been applying the pressure on league-leaders Coventry City.

Middlesbrough retain a narrow 43.72 per cent chance of achieving automatic promotion, while Ipswich have played a game less and follow closely behind with 39.96 per cent.

Millwall, on the other hand, boast just a 14.50 per cent chance of automatic promotion, with the supercomputer leaving their hopes with the play-offs.

Crunch matches approach in Championship race

Middlesbrough will host Millwall at the start of next month, in what could be the first of their two biggest games of the season.

The other comes later in the month, when they go to Portman Road to take on Ipswich Town.

Win both games, and Boro may well guarantee themselves a place in the Premier League next season – one which they should have wrapped up some time ago.

But lose either, or both, and the second automatic promotion place is, once again, up for grabs.