Just 10 games remaining in the race to gain promotion to the Premier League and both Cardiff City and Swansea City are in the pack vying for a Championship play-off place.
Cardiff, dealt a heavy blow by a freak training injury to influential midfielder Lee Tomlin last month, are in 11th place on 51 points… five adrift of sixth-placed Preston North End on 56.
The Swans are two places above the Bluebirds on 52 points, four adrift of the Lilywhites.
Also in the chasing pack are Bristol City on 54, Blackburn Rovers on 53 and Millwall on 51, with both Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday three adrift of Cardiff on 48. Above Preston… Brentford are in fifth place on 57 points, Nottingham Forest on 60 and Fulham on 63.
The automatic places look to be in the hands of Leeds United on 68 points and West Brom, who currently top the table on 69 points.
Tomlin, who joined Cardiff from Bristol City in 2017, is set to be out for up to eight weeks with a medial ligament injury to his knee sustained after chasing back to defend in a training session and his absence has been massive for the Bluebirds in the recent 2-2 draw against Brentford and defeats to Forest, 0-1, and Stoke City, 2-0.
Swansea’s form, like Cardiff’s, has been intermittent, with a recent 2-2 draw at Blackburn preceded by a 1-0 defeat at Fulham and a 3-1 win against Huddersfield at the Liberty Stadium.
The Swans have been without Wales defender Joe Rodon since the autumn and have more recently had to contend with injuries to Wayne Routledge (knee), Mike van der Hoorn (knee) and George Byers (ankle).
On Saturday the Swans face a daunting encounter with West Brom at the Liberty, while the Bluebirds play Barnsley at Oakwell.
So for Welsh football fans it’s an enthralling climax to the 2020-21 Championship season, will either the Bluebirds or Swans make the play-offs? Could they both do it?
If they do both make the end of season showdown, could they meet in the semi-finals, or is there a chance of a Wembley battle between them to see who can make it to the promised land of Premier League football?
Bookmakers Betfair currently see Brentford, Fulham, Forest and Preston as the favourites to be in the play-offs, with the Lilywhites the outsiders of the four at 4-6.
West Brom are 5-1 and Leeds 11-1, but that’s only because they are the ones likely to make the automatic places.
Seventh-placed Bristol City are at 10-3 along with Blackburn, while Swansea are 9-2, followed by Millwall at 5-1 and Cardiff at 9-1. All the rest are 45-1 or more.
Neither Swansea nor Cardiff have shown much consistency this season, but neither have many of the sides above or below them, and both sides are more than capable of taking on and beating their rivals if they show their best form.
The Bluebirds play five of the remaining games at home and five away, with a point at Oakwell the very least they should be gunning for on Saturday.
They then face Leeds at Cardiff City Stadium, followed by Preston away. After that they have home games against Charlton, Blackburn, Derby and Hull, plus away games at Bristol, Fulham and Middlesbrough.
So in terms of the play-off places Cardiff have four six-pointers, a home fixture against Leeds, and four games against sides battling to stay in the division. The other game sees them play at home against Derby, revitalised since the arrival of a certain Wayne Rooney.
The Swans start off with the visit to the Liberty of title pace-setters West Bromwich Albion, followed by Middlesbrough away. Next up it’s relegation-strugglers Luton Town at home, followed by Millwall away.
The Swans then have three home matches and three away. The home matches are against Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United and Bristol City… away they face Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest and Reading.
So for Swansea the remaining games bring home matches against West Brom and Leeds, three six-pointers and two against sides fighting relegation. Their other games are against sides who appear to be safe in the division but are realistically not in contention for the play-offs, although fans of Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham might have something to say about that.
With 30 points still up for grabs and the top-six places very much in sight, who’d your money be on to win the play-offs? At the moment Brentford top that market with Betfair at 6-4, with Fulham second favourites at 11-4. The Swans are 25-1 long-shots to lift the play-off trophy, the Bluebirds a massive 45-1…. anyone tempted?
Swans And Bluebirds Remaining Fixtures
Saturday March 7
Barnsley v Cardiff City, Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion
Saturday, March 14
Middlesbrough v Swansea City
Sunday, March 15
Cardiff City v Leeds United
Tuesday, March 17
Preston North End v Cardiff City, Swansea City v Luton Town
Saturday, March 21
Cardiff City v Charlton Athletic, Millwall v Swansea City
Saturday, April 4
Bristol City v Cardiff City, Swansea City v Sheffield Wednesday
Friday, April 10
Birmingham City v Swansea City, Cardiff City v Blackburn Rovers
Monday, April 13
Swansea City v Leeds United
Tuesday, April 14
Fulham v Cardiff City
Saturday, April 18
Cardiff City v Derby County, Nottingham Forest v Swansea City
Saturday, April 25
Middlesbrough v Cardiff City, Swansea City v Bristol City
Saturday, May 2
Cardiff City v Hull City, Reading v Swansea City
