Championship playoff odds and predictions: Favourable run puts Millwall in strong position

Championship top-six odds

Luton 1-200
Middlesbrough 1-100
Millwall 8-13
Blackburn Evs
Norwich 6-5
Preston 9-2

Burnley had looked nailed-on for promotion from the Championship for most of the season but pinning down which clubs will follow them into the promised land of the Premier League next campaign is proving to be much harder.

Sheffield United are on course to take the other automatic promotion berth, while Luton and Middlesbrough also look assured of playoff places but beneath them the standings are congested.

Heading into this weekend's matches, only six points separate Millwall in fifth position and Watford down in 12th and there is plenty to play for in the remaining weeks of the regular season.

Millwall had started the season slowly but are now prime playoff contenders and have a pretty favourable run-in which features games against strugglers Birmingham, Wigan and Blackpool, while both of their matches against promotion rivals Preston and Blackburn are at the Den, where ten of their 17 league wins have come this term.

Preston have put together a run of five wins from their last six matches to enter the promotion picture from out of nowhere and will be eager to lay down a marker at the Den on Saturday.

It is, however, worth noting that each of those recent five victories for Preston came against teams in the bottom half and they lost their only challenging fixture in that run 4-0 away to Middlesbrough.

Boro are looking pretty comfortable and, barring a collapse, they should feature in the playoffs but their form has dipped a little recently with only one win recorded in their last five games.

They are in pretty good hands under Michael Carrick, though, and are spearheaded by the Championship's top scorer in 26-goal Chuba Akpom.

Blackburn have a game in hand over most of the sides around them in the Championship standings but must also contend with one of the toughest run-ins with their final five fixtures all against teams in the current top nine in Coventry, Preston, Burnley, Luton and Millwall. 

That makes Saturday's home assignment with Hull all the more crucial.

They have not dropped below eighth all season, having occupied a playoff position since mid-February, so it would be a huge blow for Rovers to miss out this campaign.

Norwich, who were relegated from the Premier League last season and are aiming to make an immediate return, are also still forging a push for the playoffs, although Monday's stale 0-0 draw with Rotherham was a reminder of why they have not been higher up the standings this season.

Consistency has evaded the Canaries, who have strung together more than two wins in a row only once since September. But Friday's contest with Middlesbrough is the last time they face a team inside the current top ten this season.

Coventry and Sunderland are two other outfits to keep an eye on in the race for promotion, although their playoff hopes will be reliant on slip-ups from the teams above them.

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