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Championship round-up: Penultimate fixtures throw up major twists

Coventry suffered a shock defeat to Luton
Coventry suffered a shock defeat to LutonČTK / imago sportfotodienst / David Horn
The penultimate round of Championship fixtures has now passed, with several clubs still battling for the play-offs and survival heading into the final day of the regular season.

Leeds and Burnley are set for a straight shootout for the title after both recorded resounding wins, while the play-off picture is tighter than ever after another set of shock results.

At the bottom of the table, Cardiff's relegation was confirmed and Plymouth will almost certainly join them due to their terrible goal difference.

Aside from that, though, the final spot in the bottom three is still open and any of five teams could face the drop.

As always, Flashscore have rounded up all the key talking points from the latest Championship action:

Championship table
Championship tableFlashscore

Leeds and Burnley a cut above the rest

Both Leeds and Burnley had their promotions to the Premier League confirmed last week but neither have shown any signs of their performances dropping off.

That was proven over the weekend when both clubs recorded major victories.

Burnley defeated QPR 5-0 with an utterly dominant showing after a brace each from Zian Flemming and Jeremy Sarmiento on top of Josh Cullen's opening strike.

Leeds followed suit with a 4-0 demolition of play-off chasers Bristol City on Monday night with goals from Ao Tanaka, Wilfried Gnonto and a Largie Ramazani double.

The two powerhouses have emerged in recent weeks as deserving winners of promotion and will now go into a straight shootout for the title on the final day of the season.

The Clarets face Millwall while the Lilywhites go head-to-head with Plymouth - both sides are level on points at the top of the table, but a win for Leeds will see them clinch the title regardless due to their superior goal difference.

Despite some bumps along the way, both clubs have proven themselves to be a cut above the rest of the division and ultimately two deserving winners of promotion to the Premier League.

Championship top five
Championship top fiveFlashscore

Cardiff's fate sealed

At the other end of the table, Cardiff had their relegation confirmed following a 0-0 draw to West Brom.

The Welsh club have endured a torrid campaign and are onto their third manager of the season, with club legend Aaron Ramsey taking charge after the departure of Omer Riza.

His appointment was met with plenty of excitement and perhaps a bit of a nostalgia kick, but has ultimately failed to help the Blue Birds in their bid for survival and will likely be looked back on as one last desperate attempt to move out of the relegation zone.

Ramsey was given the impossible task of turning around one of the league's worst teams in just a matter of days and ultimately but unsurprisingly didn't manage to pull off the unexpected.

What will sting even more for Cardiff is that they were so close to completing a miraculous great escape - the Blue Birds have lost just two of their last eight games.

Cardiff's last 10 games
Cardiff's last 10 gamesFlashscore

The only problem is that they've also only won once in that time.

The result against West Brom highlights the problems faced in recent weeks - Cardiff just haven't had enough quality to get over the line.

If they had turned just one or two of their five draws into wins, they could be all but mathematically safe by now, but those are the fine margins that make so much difference in football.

Plymouth will almost certainly join the Welsh club in League One next season, due to them being three points from safety with a shocking goal difference.

The third club to face the drop remains to be seen with one from Hull, Luton, Preston, Derby or Stoke still at threat of going down - setting up what promises to be a must-see final day of the season.

Coventry and Middlesbrough slip up

Things could not be tighter in the play-off picture with five clubs set to fight it out for the final two top-six spots on the last day of the campaign.

Just three points separate Bristol City in fifth and Middlesbrough in ninth and all of the sides involved have largely similar goal differences - meaning just about anything can still happen in the battle for a play-off position.

Both Coventry and Middlesbrough's hopes took a big hit over the weekend, though, after two poor results.

The Sky Blues conceded an entirely avoidable goal late on in a 1-0 loss to Luton, while Boro failed to break down a resolute Norwich defence in their 0-0 draw at the Riverside Stadium.

Championship play-off picture
Championship play-off pictureFlashscore

While neither result puts the two teams out of play-off contention, wins would have given major boosts heading into the final fixture of the season and also would have made it much harder for the other contenders Blackburn and Millwall to put in a realistic challenge.

Of course, football isn't quite that easy, and for the benefit of the neutral, those results set up an almighty final day of the season.

The best bit about all of this? Middlesbrough and Coventry play each other this weekend in an all-or-nothing fixture for both clubs.

Ramazani helps Leeds go top

We touched on Leeds' win over Bristol City earlier and return now for our Goal of the Week - scored by Ramazani in the dying moments of the match.

The winger took the ball down expertly with an excellent first touch before firing home to seal a resounding win for his side, while also giving their goal difference a crucial boost as they look to become champions.

Sarmiento excels for Burnley

Sarmiento netted a brace in Burnley's 5-0 win over QPR after being introduced in the second half, earning an impressive 9.0 Flashscore rating.

That was the highest score across the weekend, which makes him our Player of the Week!

Take a look at a full XI of the top performers:

Championship Top XI
Championship Top XIFlashscore

Full results:

Stoke 0-2 Sheffield United

QPR 0-5 Burnley

Luton 1-0 Coventry

Millwall 1-0 Swansea

Cardiff 0-0 West Brom

Blackburn 2-1 Watford

Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Portsmouth

Preston 1-2 Plymouth

Oxford 2-0 Sunderland

Middlesbrough 0-0 Norwich

Hull 0-1 Derby

Leeds 4-0 Bristol City

Ali Pollock
Ali PollockFlashscore