How Derby County, Cardiff City, Luton Town & Plymouth Argyle's final 4 Championship fixtures compare - League One beckons for Cardiff | OneFootball

Football League World looks at how Derby County, Cardiff City, Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle's final four matches compare in the relegation battle

The 2024/25 Championship relegation battle continues to intensify as we head into the dying embers of the current campaign, making for one of the most intriguing and frantic tussles in recent history.

Theoretically, at least, several sides still remain at risk of suffering relegation to League One, with the likes of Preston North End and Oxford United, in 16th and 17th position respectively, not completely out of the woods just yet.

There are, however, perhaps six sides who are right in the mix. Portsmouth and Hull City each have a relative cushion bridging them from the bottom-three as it stands, but Derby County are in the midst of a dogfight with the relegation zone's current occupants in Cardiff, Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle.

It's going to go right down to the wire, and with an eventful afternoon of action imposing much change and drama down at the bottom of the table, Football League World has taken a look at how Derby, Cardiff, Luton and Plymouth's final four fixtures compare and who may be destined for the drop.

Derby County's final four fixtures

Of the four sides, it's John Eustace's outfit who could just have the most favourable run-in.

Derby's dramatic 2-2 draw at Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon was their second successive draw following a midweek stalemate with promotion hopefuls Burnley, and now means they have lost just one of their last seven games.

They have hit strong form at the right time, and will fancy their chances back at Pride Park on Good Friday against 23rd-placed Luton Town. An Easter Monday trip across the Midlands to West Bromwich Albion may not be quite as fruitful, but Derby will then face two struggling sides in Hull and then Stoke City on the final day.

With three of Derby's four remaining opponents still in relatively close proximity, amid a run of encouraging form, the Rams look well-placed to retain their second-tier status.

Cardiff City's final four fixtures

Cardiff's chances, however, may not be quite so positive.

The Bluebirds slumped to a crushing 1-0 defeat to Stoke at home over the weekend, handing their survival hopes a seismic blow. Anything other than a win against the Potters, mind you, was always going to spell doom for Cardiff, who have now won just two of their last 13 matches.

That's hardly encouraging ahead of what promises to be a tricky end-of-season run-in, for a side so agonisingly out of form at the minute. Cardiff will likely need at least a point at Sheffield United on Good Friday. The Blades are on a miserable run themselves, having lost each of their last three matches in a dramatic collapse, but are still third in the Championship and few teams tend to come away from Bramall Lane with a point or more - Cardiff simply appear incapable of winning right now.

But that is surely what they will have to do on Easter Monday at home to Oxford United. Omer Riza's side will then host play-off chasing West Brom on April 26 before heading up to Norwich City for a tricky final-day fixture.

Plenty of points are still up for grabs, of course, but it's difficult to ignore the increasing inevitability for a Cardiff side unable to buck their faulty form.

Luton Town's final four fixtures

Luton have enjoyed something of an uplift in recent weeks, but there is a feeling that it may not be quite enough to compensate for, generally-speaking, a truly disastrous campaign.

By and large, the Hatters appear to finally be clicking under Matt Bloomfield, who was appointed back in January. Saturday's defeat to Blackburn Rovers was just their second in eight matches, with the Hatters having taken points from the likes of Portsmouth, Cardiff, Hull and Stoke along with promotion hopefuls in Leeds United and Middlesbrough.

But too many draws have simply not been converted into wins, and Luton have ground to make up if they are to avoid successive relegations from the Premier League down into the third-tier.

Next up, of course, is that six-pointer away at Derby County before a home clash with fifth-placed Bristol City. Luton will then face two more teams in and around the play-off picture in Coventry City and West Brom away on the final day.

A win at Pride Park could give Luton all the momentum they need to kick on. Anything else than that, though, could well consign the Hatters to the drop. It's not going to be easy.

Plymouth Argyle's final four fixtures

Plymouth are bound to be brimming with confidence and hope after claiming a chaotic 2-1 victory over Sheffield United on Saturday, with late goals from Ryan Hardie and Muhamed Tijani handing Miron Muslic's men something of a lifeline heading into the closing stages of the season.

In spite of that, Argyle remain three points shy of safety and simply must avoid defeat away at Middlesbrough on Good Friday. They will need the Home Park factor to continue in their favour when they host Frank Lampard's Coventry on Easter Monday, while the trip to mid-table Preston North End will likely need to yield all three points if they are to have any realistic chance of securing survival.

On the final day, meanwhile, Plymouth will host current league leaders Leeds in the sort of clash where just about anything could happen. The Whites could quite well blow Plymouth away and seal their fate, but Daniel Farke's side are far from immune to dropping points and going missing at key stages - it's going to be an incredibly-exciting encounter that could dictate where both teams finish.

Relegation to League One beckons for Cardiff City - Derby County are likely to survive

Assessing each team's remaining fixtures, it does appear as though survival may just be beyond Cardiff, Luton and Plymouth. That's not to say those teams are down just yet - all three are still in with a chance and Luton and Plymouth have both picked up at the perfect time - but it could be too late, while the Bluebirds did look to be safe before enduring an alarming dive in recent weeks.

That defeat to Stoke has significantly dented their survival hopes, handing a crucial advantage to Derby in the process, and a more-appeasing run-in for the Rams mean they could just stay up at the expense of the Bluebirds, but also potentially Luton and Plymouth.

Most concerningly, it's viable that Cardiff, who have flirted with the final relegation spot for large parts of the campaign, could actually finish in 23rd or even rock bottom, with Luton and Plymouth simply far more capable of picking up points right now.