Championship roundup
That’s all from me. It’s been a big day for Leeds, who won the title without playing, and for West Brom, who are once again favourites for the other automatic promotion spot after Brentford lost at Stoke. At the other end of the table Luton’s victory at Hull means survival will probably be theirs if they get something from their final fixture at home to mid-table Blackburn (particularly with Charlton having to go to Leeds) and makes Hull’s task extremely troublesome. Cardiff’s win over Middlesbrough means they need only a point at home to Hull on Wednesday to make a final play-off spot their own. There were 35 goals in nine games today - good effort lads. Bye!
The remaining Championship fixtures in full:
Sunday 19 July (AKA tomorrow)
Derby v Leeds United (2pm)
Barnsley v Nottingham Forest (3pm)
Wednesday 22 July (all games 7.30pm)
Birmingham City v Derby County
Brentford v Barnsley
Bristol City v Preston
Cardiff City v Hull City
Leeds United v Charlton Athletic
Luton Town v Blackburn Rovers
Millwall v Huddersfield Town
Nottingham Forest v Stoke City
Reading v Swansea City
Sheffield Wednesday v Middlesbrough
West Brom v QPR
Wigan v Fulham
League table
The full Championship table looks like this:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds | 44 | 36 | 87 |
| 2 | West Brom | 45 | 32 | 82 |
| 3 | Brentford | 45 | 43 | 81 |
| 4 | Fulham | 45 | 16 | 80 |
| 5 | Nottm Forest | 44 | 12 | 70 |
| 6 | Cardiff | 45 | 7 | 70 |
| 7 | Swansea | 45 | 6 | 67 |
| 8 | Preston North End | 45 | 5 | 65 |
| 9 | Millwall | 45 | 3 | 65 |
| 10 | Blackburn | 45 | 4 | 63 |
| 11 | Bristol City | 45 | -5 | 62 |
| 12 | Derby | 44 | -2 | 61 |
| 13 | Wigan | 45 | 1 | 58 |
| 14 | QPR | 45 | -9 | 57 |
| 15 | Reading | 45 | 4 | 56 |
| 16 | Sheff Wed | 45 | -7 | 56 |
| 17 | Stoke | 45 | -9 | 53 |
| 18 | Huddersfield | 45 | -15 | 51 |
| 19 | Middlesbrough | 45 | -14 | 50 |
| 20 | Birmingham | 45 | -19 | 50 |
| 21 | Charlton | 45 | -11 | 48 |
| 22 | Luton | 45 | -29 | 48 |
| 23 | Hull | 45 | -27 | 45 |
| 24 | Barnsley | 44 | -22 | 43 |
Final scores
All the Championship games are now over, and the final scores are as follows:
Blackburn 4-3 Reading
Charlton 2-2 Wigan
Fulham 5-3 Sheffield Wednesday
Hull City 0-1 Luton Town
Middlesbrough 1-3 Cardiff City
Preston 2-0 Birmingham City
QPR 4-3 Millwall
Stoke City 1-0 Brentford
Swansea City 1-0 Bristol City
Updated
Final score at Craven Cottage, where Fulham have pipped Sheffield Wednesday 5-3, to keep alive their (admittedly distant) automatic promotion hopes.
GOAL! QPR 4-3 Millwall (Molumby, 90+5 mins)
Surely the last goal at Loftus Road, where Jason Molumby’s shot deflects off Barbet and loops into the net!
Updated
Final whistles are blowing now. Swansea have beaten Bristol City 1-0, and can still get into the play-offs if they win in Reading on Wednesday and Cardiff lose at home to Hull. Hull, meanwhile, have lost 1-0 at home to Luton and need the most outlandish of miracles if they are to stay up now! They can now only stay up if Wigan get deducted 12 points, and both they and Luton lose on the final day.
GOAL! Fulham 5-3 Sheffield Wednesday (Decordova-Reid, 90+1 mins)
This is getting silly now! A matter of seconds after Nuhiu scores the seventh goal of the game Bobby Decordova-Reid grabs the eighth, shooting low and hard from 25 yards, through the legs of Lees and past Wildsmith!
Updated
GOAL! Fulham 4-3 Sheffield Wednesday (Nuhiu, 89 mins)
A lovely cross from the scene-stealing Murphy on the right, and Atdhe Nuhiu scores with an excellent header that goes just inside the post!
Updated
GOAL! Preston 2-0 Birmingham (Potts, 87 mins)
The ball bounces towards Maguire and though Pedersen beats him to it, his header goes straight to Brad Potts, who bursts into the area and shoots low past Camp with his left foot!
Updated
GOAL! Middlesbrough 1-3 Cardiff (Assombalonga, 85 mins)
That’s a lovely free-kick from Britt Assombalonga, who from 25 yards sends the ball up, down, and in!
Updated
GOAL! Blackburn 4-3 Reading (Gallagher, 87 mins)
A lovely cross from Chapman on the left, and Sam Gallagher throws himself past Obita, who made a rather pathetic attempt to win the header, and heads in at the back stick!
Updated
GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-3 Cardiff (Josh Murphy, 81 mins)
Mendez-Lang is the creator, pegging it down the right and crossing low to Josh Murphy, who takes a touch and then shoots. Pears had closed him down well, but the shot hit him, rebounded back into Murphy, and bobbled horribly over the line!
Updated
GOAL! Hull 0-1 Luton (LuaLua, 86 mins)
A massive goal at the bottom of the table! There’s no obvious threat when Kazenga Lualua picks up the ball on the right flank, 15 yards inside the Hull half, but then he sets off infield and downfield, is eventually vaguely closed down by Batty, pushes it onto his left foot and then scuffs a shot from 25 yards or so that somehow beats Ingram!
Updated
GOAL! Fulham 4-2 Sheffield Wednesday (Jacob Murphy, 78 mins)
It’s all going on in west London, where both games now have the same scoreline. Wednesday pull a goal back through Jacob Murphy - a corner is headed to him just outside the area, and his left-foot shot isn’t up to much, but it hits Kebano and the deflection wrong-foots Rodak!
Updated
GOAL! QPR 4-2 Millwall (Kane, 72 mins)
That’s a fabulous break from QPR! I think it’s Ball who bursts down the left, and he spots Todd Kane, just on a substitute, running free on the far side of the area, picks him out with his cross and Kane’s first touch is a diving header that sends the ball past Bialkowski!
Updated
GOAL! Fulham 4-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Kebano, 73 mins)
Fulham win a free-kick a yard outside the area. Kebano banks on the wall jumping and shoots low, the wall jumps, and poor Wildsmith is flat-footed (again)!
Updated
GOAL! QPR 3-2 Millwall (Hutchinson, 67 mins)
Shaun Hutchinson heads in a left-wing corner, and Millwall are back in the hunt (vaguely)!
Updated
Bristol City have missed a penalty! Famara Diédhiou wins it and takes it, but he hits the post and then when it rebounds to him tries to score, thereby giving Swansea a free-kick.
Updated
GOAL! Blackburn 3-3 Reading (Meite, 68 mins)
Blackburn, 2-0 up inside six minutes, have lost the lead! Baldock is the creator this time, chipping a cross into the mixer where Yakou Meite rises highest to nod in.
Meanwhile, here’s a stat about Sheffield Wednesday’s Atdhe Nuhiu:
Atdhe Nuhiu did score a goal in the Carabao Cup this season too. That goal came on 95.36. #swfc https://t.co/f4mITVrBSW
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) July 18, 2020
Updated
GOAL! QPR 3-1 Millwall (Eze, 62 mins)
It’s so easy for Eberechi Eze, as he collects Chair’s volleyed lay-off, runs into the area and shoots low past Bialkowski! Defeat would end Millwall’s play-off hopes, and that does seem to be their fate.
Updated
GOAL! Blackburn 3-2 Reading (Baldock, 64 mins)
Sam Baldock, four minutes after coming on for George Puscas, nods in a left-wing cross, turns and runs back to the halfway line with minimal fuss.
GOAL! Blackburn 3-1 Reading (Rothwell, 56 mins)
Blackburn extend their lead! It’s a prepared corner routine that works space for Joe Rothwell just outside the penalty area, and his shot deflects past Cabral!
GOAL! QPR 2-1 Millwall (Manning, 52 mins)
Millwall’s parity lasted a couple of minutes, before Manning hits a skimming 30-yarder, Bialkowski flops over it miserably, and it bounces into the far corner!
Updated
GOAL! QPR 1-1 Millwall (Smith, 49 mins)
Wallace gets down the right and pulls back, Smith runs onto it and slams it into the roof of the net!
Updated
GOAL! Fulham 3-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Nuhiu, 49 mins)
The other Murphy is in action now! Fulham try to pass the ball around their defence, Jacob Murphy nips in, Rodak lunges two-footed, wins the ball but catches the man and the referee points to the spot! Atdhe Nuhiu tucks it away!
Updated
GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff (Murphy, 47 mins)
Boro have the ball and push numbers forward, but then Glatzel heads to Tomlin, Tomlin passes to Josh Murphy, and he has an entirely empty (except for poor Pears) half to run into. You don’t catch a Murphy in that situation, and he runs to the edge of the penalty area before tucking it past Pears!
Updated
It is no longer half-time. Hull v Luton is the intriguing tie. So far Luton have had 64% of the possession, Hull have had 72% of the shots and 100% of the corners, Luton have had the only shot on target, and no goals have been scored. Will either side settle for a point?
It is half-time. Fulham hold a 3-0 lead over Sheffield Wednesday and will be on 80 points if they go on to win, one behind Brentford and two behind West Brom. They could thus still win automatic promotion, but they would need the Baggies to lose their last game and Brentford not to win theirs, because the Cottagers’ goal difference is 15 behind West Brom’s and 26 behind Brentford’s.
GOAL! Swansea 1-0 Bristol City (Roberts, 45+2 mins)
Gallagher’s excellent shot from 30 yards dips over the keeper, hits the post, rebounds out to Roberts and he sidefoots it in from out to the right of goal!
Updated
GOAL! Preston 1-0 Birmingham (Bauer, 43 mins)
Another right-wing corner, another goal! This time Patrick Bauer gets in front of Harlee Dean and the ball lands on his foot seven yards out, and he sidefoots it in! If anyone ever asks what the point of having someone on the post at a corner is, that goal is the answer.
Updated
GOAL! QPR 1-0 Millwall (Masterson, 43 mins)
A corner from the right is headed goalwards, pushed out by Bialkowski, and the loose ball is turned in by Conor Masterson!
That goal means that Mitrovic is now leading the chase for the Championship’s golden boot. Here are the latest standings:
26 Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
25 Ollie Watkins (Brentford)
20 Lewis Grabban (Nottingham Forest)
18 Karlan Grant (Huddersfield)
18 Nahki Wells (QPR/Bristol City)
17 Saïd Benrahma (Brentford)
GOAL! Fulham 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Mitrovic, 41 mins)
Kebano is tripped in the box, and from the resulting penalty Wildsmith flings himself to his left, and Mitrovic blasts straight down the middle!
Updated
It’s not all bad for Wildsmith - the Wednesday keeper has just pulled off a tasty save from Onomah’s slightly tastier volley.
GOAL! Fulham 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Mitrovic, 26 mins)
Fulham break, Mitrovic is played in on the right of the area, and he shoots low and early past Wildsmith!
Updated
Paul Wilson was at the Bet365 to see Brentford hand the promotion advantage back to West Brom:
Leeds United are champions as a consequence of this unexpected result and Stoke can wave goodbye to any lingering fears of relegation, though the real significance of Brentford’s eight-match winning streak coming down to earth with a bump is that West Bromwich Albion stay in second place with one game left to play.
Automatic promotion is out of Brentford’s hands again, in other words, leaving Slaven Bilic the most relieved man in the Championship after his side’s slip-up on Friday night at Huddersfield. Just a point here would have taken the Bees into second place, with a home game against bottom of the table Barnsley on final day, but now they will have to be content with the play-offs if West Brom can beat QPR at the Hawthorns.
Much more here:
GOAL! Blackburn 2-1 Reading (Swift, 15 mins)
Three goals in the opening quarter-hour at Ewood Park, and John Swift has pulled one back with a 30-yard free-kick which just cleared the wall and flew into the net, with Walton nowhere near!
Updated
GOAL! Fulham 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Kebano, 11 mins)
Neeskens Kebano puts Fulham ahead! I’m not sure what Joe Wildsmith was doing in the Wednesday goal, mind. Kabano cuts in from the left and hits a shot from 22 yards or so that trundles gently inside the near post. Wildsmith’s postioning must have been a bit awry, because he threw himself at it and despite it’s featherlight pace got nowhere near.
Updated
GOAL! Blackburn 2-0 Reading (Armstrong, 6 mins)
Blackburn aren’t hanging about. They play the ball to Adam Armstrong on the edge of the area, who lets it roll across his body and shoots left-footed, back across goal and in!
GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-1 Cardiff (Morrison, 4 mins)
All of three minutes played and Middlesbrough are fast asnooze as a corner is swung into the box, and the ludicrously unmarked Sean Morrison strolls up to the ball and nods it in!
Updated
GOAL! Blackburn 1-0 Reading (Brereton, 3)
The Blackburn striker receives the ball just inside the box, cuts inside onto his left foot and slots his shot into the bottom corner to give Rovers the lead.
Updated
Hull earn a very early free-kick, which is curled towards goal from the left by Honeyman but Sluga reads it and tips it over.
Kick-off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Whistles are going all over the country.
Here is our report from the Bet365.
Following the Brentford result to day, all I can think about is Marcelo Trotta coming on for their final fixture to take a penalty. Admittedly, he is currently playing for Ascoli in Italy, so it is unlikely.
A win for Cardiff at Middlesbrough could potentially confirm a playoff place for Neil Harris’ side, if other results go their way. It would be a wonderful prize for the Londoner who joined the side after a poor start to the campaign under Warnock. Harris steadied the ship and has implemented a pragmatic style in the Welsh capital.
Anyway ... let’s talk Hull. They are were humiliated by Wigan in midweek. We all know the Latics have a point to prove, but conceding seven in the first-half when you are fighting for your life is unacceptable. Hull have suffered an incredible decline since selling their top assets in January and those decisions could result in them returning to the third tier.
Leeds are now champions. Not a bad 24 hours for a team who haven’t kicked a ball in anger.
😍 Thank you Marcelo! pic.twitter.com/4hf8T0QW8Z
— Leeds United (@LUFC) July 18, 2020
Neil Warnock welcomes former club Cardiff to the Riverside. Here are the teams:
Stoke stun Brentford, Hull v Luton and more – Championship clockwatch:
Neil Warnock names an unchanged #Boro side to face his old club @CardiffCityFC 🔄❌
— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) July 18, 2020
Presented by @unibet #UTB
🔢
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) July 18, 2020
Just 1️⃣ change for the #Bluebirds as @WillVaulks comes back in. 👊#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/ZPDhub1Tj2
Hull City v Luton team news
How do you react to losing 8-0? By making six changes is the answer. It is a must-win game for Hull against fellow strugglers Luton.
📝 The team news is in!
— Hull City (@HullCity) July 18, 2020
🐯 Here's how the Tigers will line up for #HULLUT this afternoon...
🔶 Six changes
⬛️ Matt Ingram makes his first league start
🔶 Callum Elder takes the captain's armband#hcafc | #theTigers pic.twitter.com/kqIOmFZX7r
📝 The Hatters’ line up to take on Hull City this afternoon 👇 #COYH pic.twitter.com/LfyKEiI3pm
— @LutonTown (@LutonTown) July 18, 2020
Meanwhile at the Valley, Charlton have grabbed a 93rd-minute equaliser!
90+3 THIS COULD BE HUUUUUUGEEEEEE!!!!!
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) July 18, 2020
Watch live: https://t.co/JTLeF8mDAl#cafc 2 #wafc 2 pic.twitter.com/845sOMnQpN
Final score: Stoke City 1-0 Brentford
90+8 mins: That is it! The result of this result is that Stoke guarantee their place in the Championship next season, Leeds win the Championship title, and West Brom are back in the automatic promotion driving seat!
90+8 mins: Norgaard wins the header, but it goes well wide. Surely that’s it now?
90+7 mins: Watkins is released on the right, and his cross is turned behind. One more chance!
90+6 mins: The corner bounces behind, and is that Brentford’s last chance?
90+6 mins: Save! The ball drops to Pinnock inside the penalty area, whose shot is turned wide by Davies! The keeper’s up for the corner!
90+5 mins: Collines replaces Powell for Stoke. The clock ticks.
90+3 mins: McClean pushes Watkin in the penalty area! Nothing given, and McClean runs to the halfway line where he steamrollers Emiliano. McClean is booked, and Powell wastes a bit more time by calling on the physios.
90+2 mins: Close! Nice work on the edge of the area, especially from the excellent Benrahma, and it ends with Canos sliding the ball across goal, and it zipping just out of everybody’s reach and wide!
90+1 mins: There will be five minutes of stoppage time, but Brentford are showing no sign of breaking down the Stoke wall any time soon.
89 mins: Emiliano wins a throw-in on the right, Baptiste messes it up. Foul throw.
88 mins: Stoke bring Sorensen on and take Gregory off.
87 mins: Powell dispossesses Benrahma with an excellent stretching tackle, as Brentford threatened to build up a head of steam.
84 mins: Brentford make their final changes. Dalsgaard and Mbeumo go off, Baptiste and Fosu come on.
83 mins: The corner is played short to Benrahma, who has a wildly optimistic, and just wild, shot from out on the left.
83 mins: Brentford have eight men attacking; Stoke have 11 defending. Emiliano’s shot from the edge of the area is turned round the post by Davies.
Updated
80 mins: Emiliano’s effort goes over the wall and dips, but still clears the bar by several yards.
78 mins: Dervisoglu goes down a few yards outside the penalty area, with very little encouragement. Brentford have a chance to test Davies in the home goal, though it’s a few yards further out than they’d have liked.
76 mins: The result is the very first corner of the entire match. Emiliano curls it straight out of play, as bad a corner as you’ll ever see.
75 mins: Smith tries to lead a Stoke break, but when the ball is lost Brentford suddenly have a chance to attack an undermanned defence. Watkins runs down the left, cuts inside and then has a shot blocked.
74 mins: Campbell’s first contribution involves being caught offside, kicking the ball away and getting booked.
73 mins: Stoke have everyone behind the ball, and most of them inside the width of the penalty area.
71 mins: Dervisoglu’s first contribution involves being caught offside as Brentford push for the equaliser. Tyrese Campbell replaces Vokes for Stokes.
69 mins: Dervisoglu comes on for Henry, and Canos for Jensen.
68 mins: More drinks, and Brentford are preparing for significant substitutional action. “After my Baggies’ massive choke job yesterday I figured it was all over,” writes JR. “I wasn’t going to get up at 6.30am to see Brentford win their 1,057th game in a row. Well I just awakened at half-time and flipped on the TV. I’m now having kittens. And I now have some amount of hope which is not something I want to have. Hope is the worst.” You can see the promotion odds change in real time on the Oddschecker site here. West Brom are odds-on again.
64 mins: I haven’t seen much of Stoke this season, but this is a very Stokesy performance. No team in the Championship has lost more games having led than they have this season, but there’s no sign of fragility today.
59 mins: And that is Dasilva’s final touch. Emiliano comes on to replace him.
58 mins: And now a chance for Brentford! Mbeumo does excellently on the edge of the area before playing in Watkins, who cuts back to Dasilva, who sidefoots wide!
Updated
55 mins: Chance for Stoke! McClean crosses from the left and Vokes holds off his marker and heads it at comfortable height, but sends it wide!
52 mins: Brentford have the ball in the middle, about 10 yards from the edge of the Stoke area, pass it around for a while hoping a gap will open up in the home defence, give up, and Jensen blasts a shot into a defender’s leg.
Updated
50 mins: Watkins has two opportunities to cross from the right but hits defenders on both occasions. Then Stoke break, and Vokes has a chance to play Powell through on goal but he overhits the pass, forces his teammate wide, and the chance is lost.
47 mins: Henry spots Davies creeping off his line and tries to lift the ball over him from the corner of the box. It would have been a phenomenal goal, but Henry was nowhere near scoring it.
47 mins: Brentford are 15-1 up across their last 13 second halves, Sky inform me. That’s a ridiculous record.
46 mins: Peeeeep! The visitors get the second half started.
Brentford’s players have been kicked out of the dressing-room early, and are ready and waiting for Stoke to join them on the pitch.
In the other early kick-off, Wigan lead Charlton 2-1 at the Valley. As for our game, Brentford have shown enough to know they can open up the Stoke defence, but they’ve only actually done it once. More required.
HT!@LaticsOfficial lead at the break!#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/63qBSCPQJ8
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) July 18, 2020
Half time: Stoke City 1-0 Brentford
45+3 mins: We have had half of the time, and Brentford’s is running out if they want to keep their automatic promotion hopes in their own hands.
45+1 mins: There will be three minutes of stoppage time.
45 mins: Wigan have retaken the lead at the Valley, Kieran Dowell with the goal:
39' GET IN!!! LATICS BACK AHEAD!!
— Wigan Athletic (@LaticsOfficial) July 18, 2020
Superb move that one! Patience and then, bang! Jamal Lowe and Jedi link up, @Antonee_Jedi plays the perfect ball through the box for Kieran Dowell to follow in at the back post! (1-2)#wafc 🔵⚪️💚 https://t.co/aZENmR4YSs
45 mins: You may see the goal for yourself here:
BIG. GOAL.#EFL | #SkyBetChampionshippic.twitter.com/fXLdzRTmme
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) July 18, 2020
44 mins: Stoke are making life difficult, with the back four sitting back and then two narrow midfield pairs in front of them completely clogging up the centre.
40 mins: Chance for Brentford! Well, there should have been one! A long ball finds Henry on the left, his first-time cushioned volley finds Watskins, and he ignores a completely unmarked Mbeumo to his right and instead blasts a shot straight into Martins Indi!
“Having only MBM’s to go on whilst at work, I’ve compared yours vs the Council channel’s efforts and you describe this game as pretty dismal where as they describe it as lively!” muses Benjamin Oates. “Is this MBM’s equivalent of Channel 5 adding a couple of degrees to their weather reports in an attempt to get more viewers?” We’re probably both wrong.
GOAL! Stoke City 1-0 Brentford (Gregory, 38 mins)
The home side take the lead! Clukas shoots from just outside the area, Raya can’t hold it, and Gregory snaffles the rebound!
Updated
35 mins: The game has restarted after drinks like it started after kick-off. Perhaps not so many aimless long balls, but a lot of midfield slogging.
30 mins: The free-kick comes into the box, and is cleared. There is, though, a hilarious Martins Indi collar-pull on Pinnock, as clear a penalty as you’ll ever see, that neither referee nor linesman saw.
28 mins: Smith pulls back Dasilva and then kicks the ball away when the referee’s whistle sounds, yet somehow goes uncautioned.
27 mins: Play restarts, and Vokes heads Smith’s cross over the bar.
23 mins: The players have a drinks break. After a pretty dismal opening Brentford have settled down and started to purr gently.
20 mins: Jensen crosses from the right and Watskins, challenged by Chester, heads wide.
18 mins: Suddenly attacking has broken out. Now Benrahma cuts in from the left before blasting a shot into a defender.
17 mins: Great chance for Brentford! Benrahma exchanges passes with Watkins and then lifts a lovely cross over the defence to Mbeumo, running in unchecked at the far post, but instead of sidefooting a volley past Davies he lets it bounce and tries a header, which hits the keeper.
Updated
15 mins: Wigan’s lead did not last long. It’s now Charlton 1-1 Wigan.
12' What a bloody finish that is! Doughty bangs a first-time volley into the back of the net from a tight angle. UNREAL!
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) July 18, 2020
Watch live: https://t.co/JTLeF8mDAl#cafc 1 #wafc 1
13 mins: Meanwhile at the Valley Wigan, who have won eight and lost only one of their last 11, have taken the lead against Charlton.
9' GET IN!!! Superb from Kal Naismith on the right, lovely clipped cross, Kieffer Moore's header spilled by the keeper, flicks up onto the bar and Jamal Lowe is there to nod the ball over the line!! (0-1)#wafc 🔵⚪️💚 https://t.co/hDrdtEBd2V
— Wigan Athletic (@LaticsOfficial) July 18, 2020
11 mins: Powell produces the best cross of the game so far, which Dalsgaard clears at the far post, just ahead of Clucas.
11 mins: Clucas overhits a cross, which Raya collects. He overhits a pass towards Benrahma. Throw-in.
9 mins: Stoke win a throw-in in midfield and expertly convert it into a Brentford throw-in within a couple of seconds.
6 mins: Martins Indi has recovered. Jensen’s challenge on him is the only thing we’ve witnessed so far that could reasonably be called an attack.
4 mins: Martins Indi clashes with Jensen on the Stoke left and goes down. It looks like there was some arm-to-jaw contact, but not deliberate.
Updated
2 mins: Not the best of starts. I’m not sure there has been a pass of more than three yards that couldn’t be described as aimless.
1 min: Peeeeeeep! Stoke get the game started.
The players run out. It’s a massive, massive game for the away side. As West Brom showed yesterday, that can have debilitating effects. Let’s see how Brentford handle being promotion favourites.
Thomas Frank has his own chat with Sky:
As far as I know I think it’s still West Brom in second. It hasn’t changed. I spoke to players before training yesterday, and I said, ‘Of course there’s a game tonight, we all know that. No matter if West Brom win, lose or draw we need to have a good sleep, wake up, prepare well, go out on top form, and win.’ So it hasn’t changed. Honestly. We know one thing for sure is that we want to attack, and we want to get three points.
He’s asked what has enabled his team to go on a ludicrous eight-game winning run:
Four things. That’s what I try to drill into the heads of the players. That attitude, where you’re confident but humble. Then we know we need to put a lot of hard work into it, a lot of running, every single minute. Then you need togetherness, where we run, fight and play for each other. And if you do that you end up with a good performance. And with a good performance, there’s a better chance that you win the game.
Michael O’Neill has a chat with Sky:
We’re here to try and win the game. We know Brentford are an excellent team, they’ve had a great season and have been the best team post-lockdown. That’s a test for us but one that we relish and we intend to get the three points.
Fab Frankie Wacky Thumbs Aloft arriving at the Bet365 this morning:
Updated
Here are the teams for the other lunchtimely match, between Charlton and Wigan:
Charlton: Phillips, Lockyer, Pearce, Sarr, Matthews, Cullen, Field, Forster-Caskey, Doughty, Bonne, Davison. Subs: Purrington, Oshilaja, Jonathan Williams, Aneke, Amos, McGeady, Green, Morgan, Hemed.
Wigan: Marshall, Byrne, Kipre, Balogun, Robinson, Morsy, Williams, Naismith, Dowell, Lowe, Moore. Subs: Evans, Massey, Pearce, Garner, Roberts, Jones, Mihai Dobre, Mlakar, Gelhardt.
Referee: Gavin Ward.
The teams have been announced, and this is them:
Stoke: Davies, Batth, Chester, Martins Indi, Smith, Clucas, Cousins, Powell, McClean, Vokes, Gregory. Subs: Butland, Lindsay, Ince, Oakley-Boothe, Campbell, Sorensen, Thompson, Tymon, Collins.
Brentford: Raya, Dalsgaard, Jansson, Pinnock, Henry, Da Silva, Norgaard, Jensen, Mbeumo, Watkins, Benrahma. Subs: Canos, Valencia, Marcondes, Dervisoglu, Jeanvier, Fosu, Baptiste, Daniels, Roerslev Rasmussen.
Referee: Geoff Eltringham.
📋 An unchanged starting XI for this afternoon's game against @BrentfordFC.
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) July 18, 2020
2⃣ changes on the bench as Butland and Lindsay return.#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/UfL9oG7cGx
One change from our midweek win
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) July 18, 2020
Teams with @EcoworldLondon#STKBRE #BrentfordFC pic.twitter.com/sqyb06Kq6b
Updated
Hello world!
Well then. West Brom’s defeat to Huddersfield last night not only resulted in promotion for Leeds, it also dangled an extraordinary £200m carrot in front of Brentford. The Bees suddenly know that just four points from their last two games, today’s at 18th-placed Stoke and Wednesday’s at home to 24th-placed Barnsley (who will be relegated without playing today if Charlton beat Wigan), will result in their promotion to the Premier League and a return to the top flight after a gap of 73 years. Since the end of February Brentford have played eight games and won them all, all but two by a margin of two or more goals. They are a best-priced 1-7 with the bookmakers this morning to secure that promotion.
Stoke won’t be a pushover: their last five home games have finished 2-0, 5-1, 0-2, 4-0 and 2-0. But no team in the country, or for that matter the globe (subs pls check), is in better form than Brentford right now.
Here’s Thomas Frank talking to a computer hosting his pre-match press conference.
Here’s the league table in full:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds | 44 | 36 | 87 |
| 2 | West Brom | 45 | 32 | 82 |
| 3 | Brentford | 44 | 44 | 81 |
| 4 | Fulham | 44 | 14 | 77 |
| 5 | Nottm Forest | 44 | 12 | 70 |
| 6 | Cardiff | 44 | 5 | 67 |
| 7 | Millwall | 44 | 4 | 65 |
| 8 | Swansea | 44 | 5 | 64 |
| 9 | Preston North End | 44 | 3 | 62 |
| 10 | Bristol City | 44 | -4 | 62 |
| 11 | Derby | 44 | -2 | 61 |
| 12 | Blackburn | 44 | 3 | 60 |
| 13 | Wigan | 44 | 1 | 57 |
| 14 | Reading | 44 | 5 | 56 |
| 15 | Sheff Wed | 44 | -5 | 56 |
| 16 | QPR | 44 | -10 | 54 |
| 17 | Huddersfield | 45 | -15 | 51 |
| 18 | Stoke | 44 | -10 | 50 |
| 19 | Middlesbrough | 44 | -12 | 50 |
| 20 | Birmingham | 44 | -17 | 50 |
| 21 | Charlton | 44 | -11 | 47 |
| 22 | Hull | 44 | -26 | 45 |
| 23 | Luton | 44 | -30 | 45 |
| 24 | Barnsley | 44 | -22 | 43 |
When the two lunchtime kick-offs conclude we’re going to keep rolling through the 3pm games, which include a massive match towards the bottom of the table as Hull host Luton in a loser-looks-doomed battle (Charlton play 12-point-deduction-pending Wigan in another massively-important belter at lunchtime). Of the play-off chasers Cardiff, Millwall and Swansea all play at 3pm; Nottingham Forest visit Barnsley tomorrow.
Today’s fixtures in full:
Charlton v Wigan (12.30pm)
Stoke v Brentford (12.30pm)
Blackburn v Reading
Fulham v Sheff Wed
Hull v Luton
Middlesbrough v Cardiff
Preston North End v Birmingham
QPR v Millwall
Swansea v Bristol City
Updated
