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Bristol City are a win away from confirming their play-off spot(Image: Photo by Dan Istitene\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nBristol City and Liam Manning have just one more match to book their place in the Championship play-off places this seasonBristol City are a win away from confirming their play-off spot(Image: Photo by Dan Istitene\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It all comes down to this. After 45 Championship matches, Bristol City<\/a> have just one game remaining in their regular Championship schedule as they look to book their place in the top six and keep the dream of promotion to the Premier League alive.<\/p>\n Although Monday evening’s defeat to Leeds United<\/a> at Elland Road served as a bit of a reminder that the job is not yet done, Liam Manning’s side remain the team in the driving seat heading into the final weekend of the campaign.<\/p>\n The Reds weren’t the only side to drop points over the weekend. Coventry City slipped to a 1-0 loss against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road while Middlesbrough were held to a 0-0 draw by Jack Wilshere’s Norwich City<\/a>. However, both Blackburn Rovers and Millwall picked up maximum points against Watford and Swansea City respectively to thrust themselves back into contention.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Double-winning captain shares Bristol City play-off verdict after Talk Club Cup outing for Reds<\/a>READ MORE: Liam Manning shares fresh Cam Pring update after Bristol City defender undergoes injury scan<\/a><\/p>\n Ahead of Saturday’s fixtures, City sit fifth in the Championship, a single point clear of Coventry City in sixth place<\/a> and two ahead of seventh-placed Millwall and eighth-placed Blackburn. Boro are ninth, and are currently two points adrift of the top six with a trip to the CBS Arena still to come this weekend.<\/p>\n Everything is well and truly in the balance with just 90 minutes of football still to be played but for the Robins, the task has arguably never been simpler. Beat Preston and not only is your place in the play-offs secured, but you’re also guaranteed to finish fifth. Simple, eh?<\/p>\n Experience shows that you should never try to predict the Championship but we’ve done exactly that. Bristol Live<\/a> have used a supercomputer provided by Football Web Pages<\/a> to simulate the remainder of the season and provide a final league table. Obviously, things very rarely go according to plan in England’s second tier so the results of this prediction should of course be taken with more than a pinch of salt.<\/p>\n With all of that in mind, here is how the table is expected to look when the full-time whistle is blown around the country this weekend…<\/p>\n 10th: Middlesbrough – 64pts, +9GD<\/p>\n It would be safe to say Middlesbrough have never quite managed to find the gear needed to really put their stamp on this season’s top six race and according to this prediction, that is likely to come back to bite Michael Carrick’s men<\/a> at the end of the campaign.<\/p>\n Boro are expected to be beaten by fellow play-off hopefuls Coventry City in their final game of the term and in turn, finish five points adrift of the top six. While anything can happen in the Championship, Carrick’s side have picked up just four points from their last five matches and from an outsider’s perspective, it looks like the immense turnover of players in January may have derailed their campaign slightly.<\/p>\n If this prediction is correct, the fact that Bristol City beat Middlesbrough at both the Riverside and Ashton Gate<\/a> this season would prove imperative to not only the Robins’ success but also to stopping Boro’s play-off push.<\/p>\n 9th: West Brom – 64pts, +10GD<\/p>\n Despite being in and around the play-off places for so much of the campaign, West Brom are heading into their final day of the season clash with Luton Town<\/a> knowing that no matter what happens, their season will be done come the full-time whistle on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n Still, the supercomputer expects the Baggies to get the better of the Hatters at The Hawthorns and in turn, leapfrog Middlesbrough to finish ninth on goal difference. Of course, it can’t be considered a successful season for Albion but they’ll still be looking to finish with a win under the temporary stewardship of James Morrison.<\/p>\n 8th: Blackburn Rovers – 65pts, +4GD<\/p>\n Where exactly have Blackburn Rovers come from in the last few weeks? When we last published one of these supercomputer predictions, we had pretty much written Rovers off given the slow start to Valerien Ismael era at Ewood Park. However, four consecutive wins have well and truly thrust them right back into contention.<\/p>\n In that run, Rovers have picked up important scalps against the likes of Luton, at Kenilworth Road, Millwall and Sunderland. They are one of the division’s form sides heading into the final day but their fixtures don’t get any easier as they finish the season with a trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although the Blades have very little to play for, the supercomputer expects them to get the better of Ismael’s side and, in turn, ensure they fall just a couple of points short of the top six. That poor run of form early in the Frenchman’s tenure could well prove definitive.<\/p>\n 7th: Millwall – 66pts, -1GD<\/p>\n A bit like Blackburn Rovers, Millwall have almost come from nowhere to emerge as a true play-off contender in the second half of the season. Alex Neil has done a fabulous job<\/a> since arriving at The Den and five wins from the Lions’ last six matches have ensured they’re heading into the weekend with a real chance of sneaking into the top six.<\/p>\n However, as far as final-day fixtures come, Millwall couldn’t have it much harder. Neil’s side head to Turf Moor to face Premier League-bound Burnley. The Clarets haven’t lost at home in the league all season and will likely need a win to have any hope of beating Leeds United to the title.<\/p>\n Bristol City are fighting to secure their place in the play-off places and you won’t miss a beat with our free newsletter.<\/p>\n All the latest news, views, interviews, gossip and analysis concerning the Robins, delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n It’s completely free and you can sign up HERE<\/a><\/p>\n It will take something really special to end Scott Parker’s side’s incredible unbeaten run. If the Lions pull that off, they will more than deserve a place in the top six but the supercomputer expects them to return from Turf Moor empty-handed and therefore, come up just short.<\/p>\n 6th: Coventry City – 69pts, +5GD<\/p>\n It feels like for the last month or so, Coventry City and Bristol City have almost been neck and neck in the play-off race. When the Robins took a huge step forward with their late win over West Brom, the Sky Blues did the same against Portsmouth. When the Reds slipped up against Luton Town on Easter Monday, Frank Lampard’s side<\/a> did the same away to Plymouth Argyle.<\/p>\n Although Coventry come into the final day with just one win in their last four matches, the supercomputer expects them to get over the line with a win over Middlesbrough.<\/p>\n Should that prediction be correct, the Sky Blues will face off against Sheffield United in the play-off semi-finals, with the first leg to be played at the CBS Arena and the second at Bramall Lane.<\/p>\n 5th: Bristol City – 70pts, +6GD<\/p>\n Let’s get the caveats out of the way early on here. Firstly, this is just a prediction. Try as we might, we don’t have a crystal ball with which we can peer into the future and see what Saturday holds. Secondly, history suggests Bristol City very rarely go about these things the simple way. Thirdly, if the rest of the supercomputer’s predictions are correct, the Reds will finish in the top six regardless of the result against Preston North End.<\/p>\n With all that admin out of the way, Liam Manning’s side are expected to get the better of Paul Heckingbottom’s relegation-threatened side at Ashton Gate on Saturday lunchtime<\/a> to not only secure their place in the top six for the first time in 17 years but also guarantee themselves a fifth-placed finish.<\/p>\n The Robins’ record on their own patch so far this term has been impressive and while they come into this weekend’s game off of the back of two defeats, they have only lost once at home in the league since the turn of the year. Let’s be clear, we’re not trying to tempt fate here\/ We’re just laying out the facts.<\/p>\n Should this prediction be correct, firstly there will be a lot of sore heads in Bristol on Sunday morning and secondly, City would face Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals<\/a>. The first leg would be played at Ashton Gate with the second at the Stadium of Light.<\/p>\n Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol City Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to join our WhatsApp community.<\/a><\/p>\n Supercomputer predicted final Championship table in full<\/p>\n 1st: Burnley – 100pts, +52gd<\/p>\n 2nd: Leeds United – 98pts, +64gd<\/p>\n 3rd: Sheffield United – 92pts, +28gd<\/p>\n 4th: Sunderland – 79pts, +16gd<\/p>\n 5th: Bristol City – 70pts, +6gd<\/strong><\/p>\n 6th: Coventry City – 69pts, +5gd<\/p>\n 7th: Millwall – 66pts, -1gd<\/p>\n 8th: Blackburn Rovers – 65pts, +4gd<\/p>\n 9th: West Brom – 64pts, +10gd<\/p>\n 10th: Middlesbrough – 64pts, +9gd<\/p>\n 11th: Swansea City – 63pts, -3gd<\/p>\n 12th: Sheffield Wednesday – 58pts, -9gd<\/p>\n 13th: Norwich City – 57pts, +4gd<\/p>\n 14th: Watford – 57pts, -8gd<\/p>\n 15th: Portsmouth – 56pts, -12gd<\/p>\n 16th: QPR – 53pts, -12gd<\/p>\n 17th: Derby County – 52pts, -7gd<\/p>\n 18th: Oxford United – 52pts, -18gd<\/p>\n 19th: Stoke City – 50pts, -18gd<\/p>\n 20th: Preston North End – 49pts, -13gd<\/p>\n 21st: Luton Town – 49pts, -24gd<\/p>\n 22nd: Hull City – 48pts, -11gd<\/p>\n 23rd: Plymouth Argyle – 47pts, -36gd<\/p>\n 24th: Cardiff City – 44pts, -26gd<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol City face campaign-defining test as Leeds defeat reveals Robins’ end-of-season frailties<\/a>READ MORE: Talk Club Cup live: Updates as Bristol Rovers and Bristol City legends and celebrities face off<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol City and Liam Manning have just one more match to book their place in the Championship play-off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2686,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-65664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114432599917875333","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_Michael-Carrick.jpg\")
Michael Carrick and Middlesbrough made big changes in January(Image: Photo by Naomi Baker\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_Valerien-Ismeal.jpg\")
Valerien Ismael has had a mixed start to life at Blackburn(Image: Photo by Rich Linley – CameraSport via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2_Liam-Manning.jpg\")
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Liam Manning celebrates after Bristol City’s win over Sunderland(Image: Photo by Michael Steele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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