Final day drama dey for EFL as promotion and relegation still undecided

Na final day of Sky Bet EFL regular season and plenty things still dey to settle. One champion, three automatic promotion places, six play-off spots and three relegations all still dey to be confirmed. After 45 rounds of fixtures, di 2025/26 campaign go reach thrilling conclusion on Saturday.

Jack Clarke’s late equaliser for Ipswich against Southampton on Tuesday deny us di perfect scenario of Ipswich, Millwall, Middlesbrough and Saints all battling for automatic promotion. While di Tractor Boys winger consign Southampton to play-offs, he twice go agonisingly close to scoring winning goal wey for kill di narrative completely. Now, despite winning just once in five matches, Ipswich fate dey inside their own hands.

Victory over QPR go confirm immediate Premier League return for Kieran McKenna’s side. Fail to win and dem go open door for Millwall and Middlesbrough. For di Lions to reach top flight for first time since 1990, dem must beat already-relegated Oxford and hope Ipswich drop points – only this scenario go do because of their vastly inferior goal difference.

From Boro‘s perspective, Clarke’s equaliser leave dem needing miracle. Like Millwall, dem must win. Dem then require Ipswich defeat and Lions draw or defeat. Ipswich draw no mathematically rule dem out, but Boro must then overhaul five goals, with added challenge of travelling to sixth-placed Wrexham, wey dey their own battle.

Di play-offs na where e fit get really dramatic, reflected by fact di bookies don make seventh-placed Hull favourite, and eighth-placed Derby just 7/2 to make top six. Wrexham dey currently sixth, above Hull by just one on goal difference – incidentally di Tigers don score one more goal should dat end up as tie-breaker between di clubs. Wrexham face incredibly tough game at home to Middlesbrough, but Hull also get very tricky fixture. Dem take on Norwich team wey collect second-most points in division since early December.

Had di Canaries no surprisingly draw with Portsmouth and Swansea in recent home games, dem too for dey dis battle. While Norwich no fit quite drag demselves into final-day contention, Derby don. Di Rams trail by just a point heading into home game with on-the-beach Sheffield United, wey results don poor in 2026. John Eustace’s men possess significantly superior goal difference to their sixth-placed rivals too. Derby fit be di outsiders with di bookmakers but with di most winnable game, dem get incredible opportunity to gatecrash top six at di last possible moment.

Plenty things still to decide further down di pyramid as well. League One’s top two and bottom three don confirm, but elsewhere e far from cut and dried. Superb late-season form from Luton and Plymouth don drag dem into contention to make play-offs, with Stockport’s shock home defeat by already-relegated Port Vale on Tuesday meaning only third-placed Bolton don confirm inside top six. Five teams go battle for three spots, with lots of permutations.

Stevenage and Stockport suppose finish di job as dem face respective home and away games against mid-table Wigan and Barnsley – both of whom get nothing to play for. A point go do for Stockport and Bradford (at Exeter) but Stevenage dey likely need win as should dem draw, wins for Luton and/or Plymouth go see dem overtake Boro on goal difference. Luton only need to better Stevenage’s result to overtake dem, but draw for di Hatters at third-placed Bolton go then leave dem at risk of being overtaken by Argyle, wey get di easiest final-day assignment.

Plymouth dey rightly considered di outsiders but get advantage of playing already-relegated Northampton, team wey don lose almost every game dis calendar year. Combine dat with challenging fixtures of Luton and Bradford, and dem go fancy their chances. Bradford face five-hour journey to sold-out St James’ Park, where resurgent Exeter (one defeat in six) dey fight for their lives. Di Grecians occupy di final relegation place and need combination of victory and Leyton Orient failure to beat Burton at home.

Last but no least, League Two get lots still to tie up too, with remarkable nine of di 12 fixtures get something at stake. Having already secured promotion, one of MK Dons (3/10) and Bromley (5/2) go be crowned champions. Di third automatic spot dey between Cambridge (2/9), Salford (evens) and Notts County (9/4). At first glance e fit seem as though Barnet still dey inside race, and dat Grimsby don yet secure their spot, but tantalising final-day meeting between Swindon and Chesterfield mean e all over for di Bees, and all wey to decide for di Mariners na exactly whereabouts inside top-seven dem go finish.

At di other end, quite remarkably, despite several different clubs appearing to be doomed at various points dis season, five fit still be relegated. Bottom-club Barrow require minor miracle to overturn three-point deficit and significant goal difference inferiority on both Harrogate and Crawley, so realistically one place dey to fill. Harrogate na di team currently dey 23rd, with Crawley, Newport and Tranmere all within a point. Town don make habit of somehow scraping to safety inside di EFL; beating Barnet to secure safety go be quite di way to pull off another survival.