Championship permutations: What Leicester, Leeds & Ipswich need for promotion as Sheff Wed & Birmingham fight to survive

This weekend marks the penultimate round of fixtures in what has been a thrilling Championship season and there is still plenty to be decided at both the top and bottom of the table.

At the top of the division, Championship fans have experienced one of the most chaotic and thrilling promotion races to date. As it stands, recently relegated Leicester City and Leeds United are both pushing for an immediate return to the Premier League along with the division’s surprise package Ipswich Town.

The relegation battle is also poised for a thrilling finale with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town, Birmingham City, Plymouth Argyle and Blackburn Rovers all battling to avoid the drop down to League One.

With all that in mind we have taken a look at all of the key permutations at both the top and bottom of the league table.

Who can be promoted from the Championship?

Leicester City are in pole position to win automatic promotion at the first attempt, they need a maximum of just two points from their final three games to win promotion and just one victory to guarantee the title.

The Foxes face Preston North End on Monday night and Blackburn Rovers on Saturday 4 May.

Leeds United sit in second, four points behind Leicester and still have an outside chance of winning the title if they can win both of their two remaining games against QPR  tonight and Southampton on Saturday 4 May.

However, Leeds’ promotion fate is not in their own hands as they are still only one point clear of Ipswich, who still have one game in hand. This means that Leeds could still miss out on promotion even if they pick up maximum points.

Ipswich Town have been the surprise package of the division and their destiny remains in their hands as they chase back-to-back promotions. They face Hull, Coventry and Huddersfield in their last three games and will secure promotion to the top-flight for the first time since 2002 if they pick up victories in all three matches.

The Tractor Boys also have an outside chance of the title if Leicester pick up less than four points from their remaining games and they have a 100 percent winning record.

Southampton’s automatic promotion dream mathematically ends if Leeds pick up a point or if Ipswich pick up two points. They have secured their place in the play-offs while West Brom and Norwich need four more points to confirm their place in the top six, though three should be sufficient given their vastly superior goal difference to Hull City and Coventry City.

Who can be relegated from the Championship?

Rotherham United will begin life in League One under returning manager Steve Evans who was recently reappointed to replace Leam Richardson.

Huddersfield Town could face the same fate less than five years on from their relegation from the Premier League. The Terriers are three points adrift of safety ahead of games against Birmingham and Ipswich - their fate remains out of their hands, though they need a minimum of one win to have any chance.

Birmingham take on Huddersfield and play-off chasing Norwich in their remaining fixtures. The Blues need simply to better the points tally of Sheffield Wednesday and avoid defeat against Huddersfield to survive.

Sheffield Wednesday after their worst ever start to a professional league season can guarantee safety if they win both of their matches against West Brom and Sunderland.

Plymouth and Blackburn can still mathematically be relegated if they fail to pick up at least four points and if results around them all go against them.