Supercomputer predicts who will be promoted to the Premier League after Middlesbrough and Coventry City latest
Middlesbrough beat Queens Park Rangers 4-0 on Sunday to strengthen their grip on the race for automatic promotion from the Championship.
David Strelec, Alan Browne, Hayden Hackney and Tommy Conway got the goals for the visitors, who have opened up a four-point gap to Millwall.
Boro had suffered a slight blip when they failed to win in three consecutive Championship games in February, but March has seen Kim Hellberg’s team recover well.
Coventry City remain in the driving seat for the Championship title after recording a big win of their own at Bristol City on Saturday.
Frank Lampard’s side looked to be struggling at the start of the year, but five consecutive league wins have seen them get back on track.
Supercomputer retains confidence in top two
Such proximity in and around the Championship top six this season still means that any outcome could well be possible.
Third-placed Millwall are just one point ahead of Ipswich Town, and sixth-placed Wrexham are only hanging on to the play-off spots by three points.
On Thursday, the EFL announced plans to add two Championship play-off spots starting from next season.
A season earlier, and Southampton, Watford and Bristol would have thought themselves still within a great chance to make it.
As it is, however, Opta‘s supercomputer has backed Wrexham to make the play-offs with a 61.80 per cent chance, while Southampton’s 36.62 per cent is the biggest threat.
Coventry and Middlesbrough have been backed to get over the line to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League, with 97.50 per cent for the former and 62.36 per cent for the latter.
Ipswich could still have their say, however, with the Tractor Boys handed a 26.16 per cent chance of clawing back second place.
Middlesbrough face key upcoming games
Sunday’s win would have served as a blow for the chasing pack, who would have hoped to see Middlesbrough struggle with the pressure.
Instead, Hellberg’s team looked cool, calm and collected as they dominated their opponent and walked away worthy winners.
| Middlesbrough – Championship fixtures | Date |
| Charlton Athletic (H) | 11 Mar |
| Bristol City (H) | 14 Mar |
| Blackburn Rovers (A) | 21 Mar |
| Millwall (H) | 3 Apr |
| Swansea City (A) | 6 Apr |
But the pressure will quickly be back on when Boro host Millwall at the start of next month, and later travel to Ipswich.
The race for promotion to the Premier League is still wide open, and now is not the time for complacency.
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