The final day of the Championship is always a hectic occasion and Bristol City find themselves right in the eye of the storm, needing all three points to confirm a spot in the playoffs with the chasing pack of Millwall, Blackburn and Middlesbrough all within a chance of making the playoffs after Bristol City’s little wobble in form which has seen them lose against Luton and Leeds. 

Crucially, both of these games were away from home which is something that Bristol have struggled with all season. Liam Manning’s side have only won four games on the road across their 23 games this season so it wasn’t a surprise to see them fall against Luton and Leeds, both sides that had something to fight for at either end of the Championship table. 

Bristol have been a lot more reliable at home, only Sheffield United, Leeds and Burnley can boast a better home record than Bristol City in the Championship this season which is a massive part of why they find themselves in a position to reach the playoffs but will need one final push, a point may be enough but securing all three would put it beyond doubt. They’ve only lost three games at home all season. 

They face a Preston side that has only won three of their 22 games on the road in the Championship this season, conceding 35 goals in the process. Bristol City ran out 3-1 winners in the initial meeting between these sides and can replicate that result here which may end up sending Preston down with Paul Heckingbottom’s side unable to separate themselves from the relegation battle as we head into the final game of the campaign.

The relegation battle in the Championship has gone right down to the wire with Stoke and Derby still in the red zone for what looks to be one more relegation spot with Cardiff now unable to escape and Plymouth needing a goal difference swing of 22 goals even if they were to win their final game of the season against Leeds at home to stay up. 

A draw could end up being enough for both of these sides to secure their status in the Championship next season but neither manager is likely to take that risk with the surprises that the Championship can throw up. Stoke have scored in three of their last five games with the exceptions coming against Sheffield United and Leeds which is to be expected with the gap in quality between the sides. Stoke have made a habit of scoring against their relegation rivals in recent weeks, winning against Cardiff and scoring against Luton and Preston in the last few gameweeks. 

Stoke scored twice in the initial meeting between the sides back in November which was enough to claim a 2-1 victory. So much has changed since then but Stoke can continue their trend of finding the back of their net against the teams around them in the table, a trait which could prove invaluable in cementing their position in the Championship for another season.

Benjamin Sesko is RB Leipzig’s top scorer in the Bundesliga this season with 12 goals across his 30 appearances in the German top flight. He’s scored 20 goals across 42 appearances in all competitions which are numbers that are catching the eye of some of the top clubs in Europe.

He enters this clash against league leaders and almost champions Bayern Munich have scored three goals across his last six Bundesliga appearances which are goals that have helped RB Leipzig push up to fifth in the table, just two points off a place in the Champions League next season which would reflect a solid season for Leipzig seeing as they parted ways with Marco Rose halfway through the season. 

Sesko scored Leipzig’s only goal after just two minutes in their 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena earlier in the season. Leipzig have scored 28 goals across their 15 home games this season which is a solid record that suggests that they can trouble the Bayern Munich backline here.

Most of the narratives in League One are settled, Birmingham wrapped up the league title weeks ago and Wrexham secured the other automatic promotion spot with their win over Charlton last week. Relegation is also settled with Crawley, Bristol Rovers, Cambridge and Shrewsbury dropping down to League Two next campaign. 

The one battle yet to be settled involves Reading and their push for a playoff spot, it’s a straight shootout between Leyton Orient and Reading for the final playoff position. Orient travel to Huddersfield who don’t have anything to play for but Reading may just have the advantage seeing as they are playing at home on the final day of the season. 

Reading have won 14 of their 22 games at home this season, a steady record for a league as chaotic as League One - only four sides have amassed more points at home than Reading this season. They face a Barnsley side which is now under the tutelage of Conor Hourihane who has instilled a more attacking-minded approach for the final few games of the season but this isn’t quite producing results - they’ve only won one of their last five games in League One.

Leicester have picked up 2+ cards in four of their last five Premier League matches. Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s side have nothing to fight for but neither do their opponents with both sides already relegated from the top flight but the Foxes will want to show some fight in front of the home fans, especially as they have failed to score at the King Power Stadium in their last nine Premier League matches.

There were nine match cards produced in the initial meeting between these sides earlier in the campaign, three of which were shown to Leicester. The home side have picked up 80 yellow cards in the Premier League this season (2.35 per game) - only Southampton, Bournemouth and Chelsea have picked up more yellow cards than Leicester in the Premier League this season.

Semenyo has picked up nine yellow cards in the Premier League this season across his 33 appearances in the top flight. No player has collected more cautions for the Cherries this season which lines up with how Bournemouth like to play, often employing an aggressive press which naturally sees their attacking players stack up fouls and collect cautions as a result. 

Semenyo has committed 65 fouls across his 33 Premier League appearances this season (2.01 per 90) which is a metric that backs up the idea that Bournemouth commit fouls quite high up the pitch, not only as a result of their press but to stop the opposition breaking against them quickly. 

Semenyo is likely to line up against Myles Lewis-Skelly who is very strong when it comes to winning fouls, he’s been hauled down 35 times in the Premier League this season (2.92 fouls won per 90). Semenyo plays for a Bournemouth side that average 13.5 fouls committed per game in the Premier League (1st in PL) and have collected 88 yellow cards this season (2nd in PL).