Around this time every year the playoffs are played, and I think we can all agree that it is a wonderful mini tournament. The playoffs have brought out some wonderful games, including one of the football moments of the decade, Watford against Leicester. The Championship playoff has been branded as the most expensive game in football. If a team win the playoffs, it has been reported that they earn £95 million, and if the team who wins stays up they can earn at least £300 million over the next couple of seasons.
This season in the EFL it is close between a lot of teams. In the Championship, Fulham sit 3rd, and still able to overtake West Brom or Leeds. Only 4 points behind Fulham are Brentford and Nottingham Forest. It is quite likely that these teams have already cemented their places in the playoffs. Preston North End sit in 6th place, and there is only 5 points between them, and last season's playoff final runners up, Derby. It seems to be getting more and more likely that Championship football will resume, meaning the playoffs will be played.
Whilst it is still quite unclear on what is happening in League one and two, it is likely the league will be cancelled. However the EFL did state that promotion and relegation must happen. Therefore there may be some sort of edited playoff competition where there are more teams, and possibly even some kind of relegation play off, which I think would be a great idea. In League one there are 3 points between 2nd and 8th, so it is all still possible to happen, as it would be very unfair to only promote a small section of these teams. There are also a few teams in League two that can move out of or into the playoffs.
Hopefully all the playoffs do take place. It is one of the fairest ways to find out who gets promoted, and we may get to see some more “DEEEEENNNNEEEYYYYYY” moments.
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