It’s a squeaky bum bank holiday as titles, Champions League places, promotions and relegations can all be decided
The run-in; the business end; squeaky-bum time, as Sir Alex Ferguson dubbed it. Whatever you call it, this is it: the time of the season when clubs’ fates are decided and dreams take shape – or wither and die.
Titles, promotions, Champions League places, play-off spots and relegation across English football’s top four divisions could all be decided this long bank holiday weekend – and here is how.
Premier League
Leicester can clinch the unlikeliest title win in top-flight history with two games to spare by beating Manchester United on Sunday.
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A draw will be enough if Tottenham fail to win at Chelsea on Monday, while if the Foxes lose at Old Trafford then Spurs need at least a draw at Stamford Bridge to keep the race alive.
Tottenham will have the consolation of a guaranteed top-four place if Leicester avoid defeat, but even if United win Spurs can seal Champions League qualification by beating their London rivals.
Championship
Just three goals separate Burnley, Middlesbrough and Brighton in the race for two automatic promotion spots as the second tier approaches its penultimate round of fixtures.
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Nothing can be decided on that front this weekend, but Sheffield Wednesday can join that trio, Derby and Hull in assuring themselves of at least a play-off place if they avoid defeat in a six-pointer against Cardiff, the only team that can catch them.
League One
Burton Albion can join champions Wigan in securing automatic promotion by beating Gillingham, although the Kent side have no shortage of motivation as one of five teams scrapping to climb into the play-offs.
Barnsley can end those hopes if they beat Colchester while Gillingham and Scunthorpe fail to get three points.
At the bottom, meanwhile, Fleetwood can condemn Doncaster to the drop – and go a long way to doing the same to Blackpool – by beating third-placed Walsall.
League Two
Accrington and Oxford can clinch automatic promotion if they win at Wycombe and Carlisle respectively if Bristol Rovers fail to beat already-relegated York.
Wimbledon will nail down a play-off place if they win at Stevenage – or if they draw and Plymouth deny Cambridge all three points.