Bristol City and Hull could fall foul of brutal EFL rule as Championship play-off and relegation race heats up

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There are just two games to go in this enthralling Championship season, and there’s everything to play for in the play-off places and down at the bottom, too.

Once again, the Championship has proven itself as the best league around, with another highly unpredictable and competitive campaign about to come to an end.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
2	BurnleyBurnley	44	26	16	2	61	15	46	94
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	44	27	7	10	60	35	25	86
4	SunderlandSunderland	44	21	13	10	58	41	17	76
5	Bristol CityBristol City	44	17	16	11	57	49	8	67
6	CoventryCoventry	44	19	9	16	62	57	5	66
7	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	44	18	9	17	64	54	10	63
8	MillwallMillwall	44	17	12	15	45	46	-1	63

We know Leeds United and Burnley are going up, and that Sheffield United and Sunderland will compete in the play-offs, but there are still two spots in the top six up for grabs.

As things stand Bristol City are fifth, with Coventry City behind them in sixth. Meanwhile, Middlesbrough, Millwall, and even Blackburn Rovers could still sneak in there before the end of the season.

It’s all to play for, and with the table being so tight right now, it could come down to the smallest of margins to decide who gets to go in the hunt of that Wembley play-off final.

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The Championship play-off places could be determined by goals scored

In these next two games, every point will count, but so will every goal. That’s because, if any teams finish on the same amount of points and share the same goal difference, their league standing will be determined by which team has scored the most goals this season.

With this in mind, Bristol City may not be feeling quite so comfortable despite being fifth in the league right now.

The Robins are the underdogs among the play-off contenders, but while they have quietly and impressively been grinding our results all season, they simply haven’t scored as many goals (57) as Coventry (62) and Middlesbrough (64)

There’s every chance, then, that if results don’t quite go their way in these next two games — let’s assume Bristol City lose both their games — Middlesbrough could get a win and a draw and finish on 67 points alongside the Robins.

If the goal swing were to go in the right direction, too, we could see both teams with the same goal difference, while Middlesbrough would pip Bristol City based on the number of goals they’ve scored.

Likewise, Blackburn could jump up the table with two wins from here, while a draw and a defeat for Bristol City could see them land on the same number of points as Rovers. Valerien Ismael’s side would need to score a fair few (they’re on 50 goals right now), but given their 4-1 win the last time out, it’s not unthinkable.

• READ MORE: EFL experts give Luton Town vs Coventry City score prediction amid ‘play-off final’ vengeance talk

Hull City could pay the price in relegation battle, too

The same permutations apply to the Championship relegation battle, too, with Hull City surely looking over their shoulders nervously as the chasing pack pick up steam.

After the results on Monday, where every team in the bottom five won apart from Cardiff, we now have a fascinating fight on our hand, with even more sides being dragged into the relegation mini league.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
20	Hull CityHull City	44	12	12	20	43	52	-9	48
21	DerbyDerby	44	12	10	22	47	56	-9	46
22	LutonLuton	44	12	10	22	41	64	-23	46
23	CardiffCardiff	44	9	16	19	46	69	-23	43
24	PlymouthPlymouth	44	10	13	21	48	85	-37	43

Right now, we have Cardiff and Luton both on a goal difference of -23. While the Bluebirds are three points behind the Hatters, they do have a slight advantage in terms of goals scored (46 to Luton’s 41).

There’s every chance, then, that one win for Cardiff and one defeat for Luton could see that brutal goals scored rule come into play.

The same applies to Hull and Derby County, who are both on a goal difference of -9 at the moment. The Rams are two points behind, but have scored 47 goals to Hull’s 43, and again, that could well be a deciding factor by the end of the season.

Whatever happens, it’s a cruel way for a team to go up or go down, but as neutrals, we’ll enjoy watching it all unfold this weekend and next.