Supercomputer predicts the EFL Championship top six on May 2nd | OneFootball

Football League World has checked in on Opta's updated end-of-season top-six predictions in the Championship

With the FA Cup fourth round in the history books, it's now full steam ahead towards the end of the season for the majority of teams in the Championship.

Every team has played at least 30 times this season, some have played 31, and most have played 32, meaning we have between 14 and 16 games remaining, and little room for error in the ongoing title, automatic promotion and play-off race.

A solid run between now and the end of the campaign could be the difference between achieving the goals set out way before a ball was kicked back in August, or not.

Throughout the campaign, Opta's supercomputer predicts how the Championship table will look, and with just over a couple of months remaining, here's how it feels the top six will pan out come May.

Middlesbrough takes on Coventry City on Monday night in quite easily the most important game of the campaign. However, regardless of whether the Sky Blues complete the league double over Boro, Opta still has Kim Hellberg's side finishing top of the pile come May.

Middlesbrough has been more than impressive since Hellberg came in following the 4-2 defeat against Coventry in late November.

Barring a barren run of no goals in four games over the Christmas and New Year period, Boro have won every game under the Swedish boss, evaporating the 10-point lead that the Sky Blues had on them at the time of his arrival.

There's still work to do, even having reached the summit, but Opta feels that Middlesbrough have what it takes to ride it out and become Champions.

Despite the ground that Coventry has given up in this title race over the last few months, Opta still believes that Frank Lampard's side have enough to finish in the automatic promotion places.

Since the start of December, the Sky Blues have picked up the 18th-most points in the division, so the fact that they're still in a relatively healthy position is a testament to how dominant they were in the opening stages of the campaign.

Coventry needs to rediscover that dominance soon, though, if they are to continue to reside in the top two and avoid chasing promotion in the play-offs for the third time in the last four seasons.

Ipswich Town are the side with the games in hand over their promotion rivals, and after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Wrexham on Friday night, they now just have one main focus, and that's finishing in the top two of the Championship once again.

However, despite the sheer quality across the pitch and in the dugout, plus the games in hand, Opta doesn't believe that they can pull through, and they'll fall agonisingly short of their goals.

You'd back the Tractor Boys in the play-offs, though, and Ipswich fans should feel confident of their promotion chances, whether that be automatically or via a Wembley trip in late May.

4 ? ? Millwall

Millwall are the current third-placed side, having leapfrogged Ipswich following a 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday over the weekend, while Kieran McKenna's side were in cup action.

They hold an eight-point lead over Preston North End, who are sat just outside the top six, and Opta believes that the Lions will hold those below them at arm's length and finish in the top four.

It would cap off a remarkable regular season for Alex Neil's side, who haven't finished in the second-tier play-offs since they finished fourth in the 2001/02 campaign, when it was still branded the First Division.

With a goal difference currently of only +4, it bears resemblance to Huddersfield Town in 2016/17, who just knew how to get on the right side of victory, and Millwall would be angling for a similar play-off campaign to the Terriers that year in their pursuit of the Premier League.

Opta believes that Hull City, the side currently in fifth, will maintain that position between now and the start of May.

The Tigers have arguably been the surprise of the season this year. Not many gave them a chance in the relegation battle, let alone the play-off one, after they scraped survival last season and had to operate under a transfer embargo this year.

However, Sergej Jakirovic's side has proved many people wrong, and may be the underdog side to look out for in the play-offs.

6 ? ? Southampton

And finally, the one side currently not in the top six that Opta feels will creep in between now and the end of the season is Southampton, who are, interestingly, one of the four remaining second-tier sides in the Last 16 of the FA Cup.

Despite this distraction, Tonda Eckert's side are backed to rise from their current position in 10th into the play-offs, finishing a mere 0.06 predicted points ahead of Derby County in seventh.

The Saints are one of the form sides over the last five Championship games, with four wins and a draw, and if they can continue that run, nothing will stop them from finishing in a play-off spot, a spot which looked very unlikely earlier on in the season.