Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Bristol City host Sheffield United in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Thursday night.
Bristol City achieved a top-six finish in the second tier for the first time since 2008 after coming from behind to beat Preston North End on the final day.
Spearheaded by the tactical brilliance of Liam Manning, who is drawing links to Leicester City, the Robins have impressed with their ferocious pressing and possession-based style.
Ahead of their clash against Sheffield United, Chris Wilder’s men are the clear favourites after finishing third in the Championship, and a whopping 22 points above them in the table.
Meanwhile, the recent form guide also suggests Bristol City could have their work cut out to win the Championship play-offs and reach the Premier League for the first time.
Ali Maxwell is concerned by Bristol City’s form ahead of the play-offs
After coming from nowhere to challenge for the top six, Bristol City stuttered into the play-offs following just one win in their previous five matches.
Manning hasn’t been helped by the setbacks he’s suffered, including the injury to defender Cameron Pring against Luton Town on Easter Monday.
But their performances of late have generally lacked conviction, and EFL expert Ali Maxwell thinks it is ‘sad’ this isn’t the best version of the Robins heading into this crunch clash.
“I’m just not sure that this is actually the best version of Bristol City heading into the playoffs, which is sad really, a lot down to absences and maybe some of the effort expended in getting there in the first place,” he said on the Not The Top 20 podcast.
Maxwell feels the only way Bristol City can prevail in the tie is through a Manning masterclass, as he predicts the Blades to progress.
“If they get through, put it this way, it’s going to be a Liam Manning masterclass, and I certainly wouldn’t hate to see it, but I think Sheffield United will progress.”
- READ MORE: Sky Sports pundit makes ‘completely wild’ claim in Bristol City vs Sheffield United score prediction
Maxwell waxes lyrical over Jason Knight
A game of this magnitude is often defined by individual brilliance, someone stepping up out of nowhere to produce a wonder strike, or a mazy run.
Sheffield United certainly have several players who can win matches on their own, including the Championship Player of the Season, Gustavo Hamer, but Maxwell has pointed out one Bristol City star who he feels is underrated.
That is midfielder Jason Knight, who has three goals and six assists in the second tier this term, with the former Derby County star proving his worth as a box-to-box midfielder.
“The star player is Jason Knight, an unbelievable player, who has got so much better than I thought he would since joining Bristol City, has become such a more rounded, all-round midfield player, has played every minute of every game this season at such intensity, and is certainly the star man,” Maxwell said.
“And I’d really love him to have two strong games so that the wider Championship public can kind of come to understand just how good he is. But yeah, it’s going to be really, really interesting.”