Five Games To Look Out For This Weekend: Title Winners and EFL Promotions

Welcome to The Match Sheet, where each week we look at five games to look out for this weekend. In this edition, we look at potential title winners and EFL relegations, as well as a special La Liga derby.

It’s the final matchday in the English Football League, with permutations waiting to be decided through each league. 

Meanwhile, on the continent, the Basque Country is the focus in Spain, whilst the league leaders in Italy and Germany have big games to play.

And in the English Premier League, one team is desperate to pick up just a single point.

Coventry City vs. Middlesbrough

Frank Lampard has had a positive stint in Coventry thus far, soaring them up the table and into the playoffs. However, they go into the final Championship matchday only ahead of seventh place Millwall thanks to a superior goal difference. 

Occupying the final playoff spot, The Sky Blues need to put a halt to their two-game losing run to guarantee a chance of promotion. They face another of the teams bidding for those top six places – Middlesbrough.

Michael Carrick’s men sit ninth, only two points behind the former England international’s teammate’s side. Boro are in sticky form themselves. One win in the last five suggests an inconsistency that hardly merits a place in next season’s top flight. 

Should Coventry City slip up again, the aforementioned Millwall will take the final spot in the playoffs if they better City’s result. The Lions, however, travel to second-place Burnley. Scott Parker’s side has the best defence in the league and is in a race to win the league title.

Meanwhile, eighth-place Blackburn Rovers are only one point behind Coventry and Millwall. They too face a tough challenge when they head to Sheffield United. The Blades are isolated in third but after poor form, now have two wins in their last three and will want to go into the playoffs with another victory under their belts.

Fifth-place Bristol City aren’t safe either. One point ahead of Coventry, should Lampard and Alex Neil get maximum points for their sides, and Liam Manning’s Robin’s choke, they’ll find themselves in the Championship again next season.

Bristol City’s game has permutations in the relegation battle too.

With Cardiff City relegated and Plymouth Argyle all but confirmed to be joining them, Hull City remains the only side able to escape the dropzone. Should The Tigers pick up a victory at Portsmouth, Luton Town, Preston North End, Derby County, and Stoke City will all be panicking. Preston, other than Cardiff, are the only team to have not picked up a victory in the last five games in the bottom 10, they’ve also lost the last four games, which has led to their slide into the relegation battle.

Their trip to Bristol City will be a tough one. 

Lots of exciting permutations in the second tier, but Coventry City versus Middlesbrough, Lampard versus Carrick, is a massive tie. 

Huddersfield Town vs. Leyton Orient

There is similar drama at the top of League One. Leyton Orient and Reading go into the final game of the season level on points but the former occupies the final playoff spot thanks to a better goal difference. 

Reading face 12th place, on the beach, Barnsley whilst Orient also travel to Yorkshire to play Huddersfield Town.

The Huddersfield Town versus Leyton Orient clash is quite the meeting. Orient are the form team in the division with five defeats in a row, whereas The Terriers have lost their last five.

It’s a large change since 2017-19 when the clubs couldn’t have been further apart. Huddersfield were tasting two years in the Premier League whilst Orient suffered two years in the National League. Five divisions apart. 

Bradford City vs. Fleetwood Town

With Doncaster Rovers and Port Vale already confirmed to be returning to League One, Bradford City are primed to join him. The Bantams sit one point above former runaway leaders Walsall and three above Notts County. 

Whilst County face Doncaster Rovers, in what should prove to be an excellent game due to both sides having much to play for, Walsall travel to Crewe Alexandra, who have had a similar drop-off. Once second, Crewe are now 12th, and out of the promotion race in League Two. 

The ball is very much in Bradford’s court and as they host Fleetwood Town at their 20k+ home expectations are high for Graham Alexander’s side to finally get promoted.

Although the Andy Cook-less Bantams are in a spot of poor form. They have only won one of their last seven. This race for third will go down to the final whistle of the season.

RB Leipzig vs. Bayern Munich

The Bundesliga title face can be wrapped up by 16:30 on Saturday. League-leaders Bayern Munich travel to RB Leipzig and a win will earn Vincent Kompany his trophy in management. 

It’ll see FC Bayern restored to their German throne, which they’d been momentarily overthrown from by Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen.

Potentially crucially, however, the former Burnley manager will be without one of the keep components of his front line – Harry Kane. The English striker moved to Bavaria last season and in true Kane-curse style, it coincided with the first season Bayern didn’t lift the trophy for over a decade.

To continue his curse, in this title-winning game, Kane won’t play a part. 

He’s been suspended for yellow card accumulation and therefore will miss the biggest moment of the season.

It’s also a big game for their hosts. RB Leipzig are battling for qualification for the UEFA Champions League and three points will go a long way to supporting that. They’re currently two points behind one of the surprises of this season, Freiburg. 

Freiburg, however, face second-place Leverkusen in a big clash.

Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Club

It’s a huge eight days for Athletic Club. Two UEFA Europa League semi-final ties with Manchester United and sandwiched between is The Basque Derby, a trip to face Real Sociedad.

The inter-city rivalry sees San Sebastian and Bilbao take to the field to battle in front of crowds of adoring fans. It’s blue and white stripes versus red and white stripes. Proper football.

Although the derby is hardly a feisty one off the pitch, with fans often coexisting and sometimes mixed together, the battle of the pitch takes a serious tone. The pride of the Basque Country is on the line.

Athletic Club currently sit fourth in La Liga, holding onto a Champions League place for next season. They’re six points behind third and five ahead of fifth. Nothing is guaranteed yet, Bilbao’s side still has five league games to play and finish the season at current leaders FC Barcelona. Therefore, three points on Sunday evening will go a long way to them gaining Champions League status.

It’ll also go a long way in improving morale. The 0-3 defeat at San Mames on Thursday night was a shock and humbling loss. They visit Old Trafford just four days after the derby, so question marks will be asked on whether Ernesto Valverde will start a full first XI.

Meanwhile, for La Real, three points are vitally important. It’s been a mixed season for Sociedad, but with five games to go – two of which come away in Madrid – they’re very much in the hunt for the UEFA Europa Conference League qualification. They’re only two points behind Osasuna.

Elsewhere…

There are a couple of huge games in the Premier League this weekend. Chelsea versus Liverpool is sure to be a cracker. Could the title celebrations of last weekend provide a hangover that The Blues can take advantage of? Chelsea are in the final Champions League qualification spot as it stands but they need to taste victory to keep the chasing pack behind them.

One of those, Aston Villa, faces Chelsea’s nearest and dearest – Fulham. It’s seventh versus eighth, but with Unai Emery’s side craving UCL qualification and Marco Silva praying for the UECL. Dropped points for either side might derail their European qualification hopes.

Sure, the race for the top five is exciting, but the real question is all about whether Southampton can beat Derby County’s historic lowest points tally or not. With only a handful of games remaining, they need just one point to better The Rams’ total. So the trip to Leicester City is exactly what the Saints are looking forward to. It could be the worst game of Premier League football ever… or it could be a total thriller.

Similarly, Everton versus Ipswich Town is sure to be a ‘cracker’, whilst West Ham United take on Tottenham Hotspurs as both clubs battle it out to not finish 17th.

In France, Marseille have yet another tough game. This week the second-place Ligue 1 side take on third-place Lille, who have stormed into the top three at the expense of AS Monaco. 

Napoli could take a huge step to winning the Italian top flight when they travel to struggling Lecce. The Naples-based side has a three-point lead over Inter, who’ve lost their last two Serie A games. Victory over Lecce will take that two six points with only nine points left available.

It could have a big effect at the bottom of the table too. Lecce are currently hovering above the relegation zones. However, Venezia and Empoli are only two points behind. A shock Lecce victory would see them all but confirm their safety.

And finally, there are two interesting clashes in Major League Soccer. The free-flowing and brilliant football of Wilfred Nancy’s Columbus Crew meets the defensively-solid and transition-heavy style of Dean Smith’s Charlotte FC. Elsewhere, Sporting Kansas City face defending MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy. Both sides have had terrible seasons and find themselves rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference. SKC have at least won two in their last five games, giving them a potential edge over the hapless Galaxy.