Championship Promotion: Watford to overhaul Tigers

Gianfranco Zola should be smiling on the last day of the season

The race for promotion on the Championship's last day promises high-end drama, Christian Crowther tries to make sense of a plethora of permutations...

Let's start at the top and work down. The hottest topic in the higher echelons of the Championship is who, just who, will be joining Cardiff in the one remaining automatic promotion spot?

Will it be Gianfranco Zola's Watford outfit or will Steve Bruce's Tigers keep their claws stuck into second as they entertain the champions at the KC Stadium.

Watford have the momentum, winning there last two games, while Hull's goalscoring and consequently results have dried up at just the wrong time - they've failed to beat or even score against any of the bottom-three sides in their last three games.

The Hornets entertain woeful travellers Leeds, who have nothing to play for, so you'd expect them to fulfil their side of the bargain, whereas Hull face the champions, who have drawn five of their last six games and haven't lost in seven. 

On this evidence, Watford's price of 2.265/4 to make the top two holds much more appeal than Hull's odds of 1.784/5, with just a point the difference. As Watford's goal difference is superior, a draw will suffice if Hull lose, with the Tigers obliged to match Watford's result to seal second.

The play-off spots still remain a tangled web, with no one prepared to stamp their authority. 

It's a four-way tussle to join Brighton and the losers of Hull and Watford's scrap as Crystal Palace, Bolton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester fight over fifth and sixth with just three points separating these clubs (although Palace could still technically wrestle fourth from Brighton).

Despite a dismal eight-game winless run which includes four defeats, two consecutive draws have somehow kept Palace at a one-point advantage over Bolton and Forest with a game in hand. 

With a superior goal difference over all bar Leicester - three points back - even the Eagles will do well to throw a play-off spot away, with their chances of a top-six finish priced at 1.141/7. They make the short trip to struggling Millwall on Tuesday night, with victory enough to secure their place and avoid any final-day angst.

Bolton's own 1.4740/85-rated prospects of remaining in the top six are emboldened by their good form and a home game against a Blackpool side with nothing to play for.

But even better for Dougie Freedman's Trotters is the fact that Leicester and Nottingham Forest face off at the City Ground, with four of the last five east midlands derbies between them finishing all square. 

It's therefore unsurprising to find Forest and Leicester's chances priced at 3.39/4 and 6.411/2 respectively, as a draw could easily prove fatal to both. 

Recommended Bet: Back Watford for a top-two finish @ 2.265/4