After the weekend's action there are more questions than answers in the race for the Premier League and just as intriguing is the battle to avoid the drop. Wins for Preston and Scunthorpe has heaped more pressure on Palace and Doncaster while at the top Swansea's defeat at Burnley has seen them drop to five points behind Cardiff in second.
City's victory over Portsmouth was crucial after Norwich won on Friday night and just who will stop Reading? 8 wins in a row now. City just need one point to guarantee a play off place. Three teams can mathematically catch us if we lose all out games and they win all theirs.
The next 7 days could see Cardiff promoted or could see us just about out of the hunt for automatic promotion. We could find ourselves just a point behind QPR with three games to play or we could be 16 points behind them. This really is a big week.
The chances are by 5pm next Monday there will still be alot to play for but it really is coming to an exciting climax.
Here are the fixtures for this week (up until Saturday) followed by the current league table.
| Monday 18th April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Queens Park Rangers | v | Derby County | 19:45 |
| Tuesday 19th April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Burnley | v | Middlesbrough | 19:45 |
| Thursday 21st April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Ipswich Town | v | Norwich City | 19:45 |
| Friday 22nd April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Coventry City | v | Scunthorpe United | 15:00 |
| Doncaster Rovers | v | Crystal Palace | 15:00 |
| Nottingham Forest | v | Leicester City | 17:15 |
| Leeds United | v | Reading | 19:45 |
| Saturday 23rd April 2011 | |||
| npower Championship | |||
| Cardiff City | v | Queens Park Rangers | 12:45 |
| Derby County | v | Burnley | 15:00 |
| Hull City | v | Middlesbrough | 15:00 |
| Portsmouth | v | Swansea City | 15:00 |
| Sheffield United | v | Bristol City | 15:00 |
| Watford | v | Barnsley | 15:00 |
| Millwall | v | Preston North End |
17:20 |
Table:
| Home | Away | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | EP | ||||
| 1 | Queens Park Rangers | 41 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 15 | 23 | 13 | 5 | 65 | 27 | 82 | +38 | ||||
| 2 | Cardiff City | 42 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 33 | 28 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 72 | 48 | 75 | +24 | ||||
| 3 | Norwich City | 42 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 42 | 26 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 30 | 27 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 72 | 53 | 74 | +19 | ||||
| 4 | Reading | 42 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 39 | 21 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 34 | 26 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 73 | 47 | 72 | +26 | ||||
| 5 | Swansea City | 42 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 26 | 31 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 59 | 41 | 70 | +18 | ||||
| 6 | Leeds United | 42 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 46 | 34 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 34 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 78 | 68 | 65 | +10 | ||||
| 7 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 35 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 26 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 55 | 45 | 63 | +10 | ||||
| 8 | Hull City | 42 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 30 | 28 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 48 | 42 | 63 | +6 | ||||
| 9 | Millwall | 42 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 35 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 21 | 24 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 56 | 44 | 61 | +12 | ||||
| 10 | Leicester City | 42 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 25 | 40 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 65 | 63 | 60 | +2 | ||||
| 11 | Burnley | 41 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 35 | 27 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 56 | 55 | 60 | +1 | ||||
| 12 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 26 | 23 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 56 | 54 | 59 | +2 | ||||
| 13 | Watford | 42 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 38 | 30 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 35 | 32 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 73 | 62 | 58 | +11 | ||||
| 14 | Portsmouth | 42 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 51 | 57 | 55 | -6 | ||||
| 15 | Bristol City | 42 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 25 | 26 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 33 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 53 | 59 | 54 | -6 | ||||
| 16 | Coventry City | 42 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 25 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 24 | 28 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 50 | 53 | 52 | -3 | ||||
| 17 | Barnsley | 42 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 21 | 40 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 50 | 61 | 51 | -11 | ||||
| 18 | Middlesbrough | 41 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 32 | 31 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 31 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 55 | 62 | 50 | -7 | ||||
| 19 | Derby County | 41 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 33 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 34 | 13 | 9 | 19 | 53 | 60 | 48 | -7 | ||||
| 20 | Doncaster Rovers | 42 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 25 | 30 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 27 | 45 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 52 | 75 | 45 | -23 | ||||
| 21 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 44 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 42 | 65 | 43 | -23 | ||||
| 22 | Scunthorpe United | 42 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 37 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 20 | 41 | 12 | 4 | 26 | 39 | 78 | 40 | -39 | ||||
| 23 | Preston North End | 42 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 24 | 34 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 26 | 37 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 50 | 71 | 39 | -21 | ||||
| 24 | Sheffield United | 42 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 22 | 32 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 37 | 9 | 8 | 25 | 36 | 69 | 35 | -33 | ||||