Coventry City and Middlesbrough’s run-in compared as Kim Hellberg makes title race claim | OneFootball

The Sky Blues and Boro are locked in a race for the Championship title at present

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg believes that his side and Coventry City could be locked in a race for the Championship title right until the very end of the regular season on May 2nd.

The Swede made such a claim following the Reds' 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Sky Blues on Monday night at the CBS Arena, with Haji Wright stealing the show with his hat-trick that saw Frank Lampard's side reclaim their position at the top of the second-tier standings after Middlesbrough took it from them through a prior six-game winning streak.

Both City and Boro have now played 32 of their 46 matches, with the West Midlands outfit now on a total of 62 points, whilst the Teesside club are positioned just behind on a tally of 61. Nearest challengers to the automatic promotion places, Millwall, are currently five points adrift of Middlesbrough after climbing into third through a comeback 2-1 victory against Sheffield Wednesday.

Speaking of the potential for an end-to-end title race in the final weeks and months of the campaign, Hellberg said: “I know if our performances are good enough we will be in a good position in the table at the end of the season.

“You look at that game and we had 17 shots in the game.

“They are a good team, good players, squad and coach. It was a game of very small margins. It’ll be a race till the last day, so we just need to enjoy it," he claimed.

Many neutrals and general onlookers of the Championship will, no doubt, be hoping that such a prediction rings true, with the division known for providing drama of the highest quality every season.

With that in mind, Football League World have compared the upcoming fixture lists for Coventry and Middlesbrough, to assess which side, perhaps, has the greater chance of leading the way heading towards the run-in.

Coventry City and Middlesbrough's upcoming fixtures assessed amid Kim Hellberg title race claim

After a run of just four victories in 13 Championship games prior to the statement Monday night victory against Middlesbrough, Coventry will hope to have reignited their promotion touch with three crucial points.

With both clubs having played the same number of matches, there is no advantage or disadvantage in terms of games in hand, whilst there are seven matches to play between now and the final international break of the season, which lasts between March 21st and April 3rd.

The Sky Blues have an intriguing run of upcoming fixtures, with several opponents still pushing for a play-off spot in a well-documented, congested battle for the top six.

In fact, the only one of their upcoming opponents not involved in the play-off hunt are their next, in the form of West Bromwich Albion, as they travel to The Hawthorns on Saturday, with the Baggies currently two points above the relegation zone.

In the following six fixtures, Swansea City are their lowest-ranked opponents in 16th. However, Vitor Matos' side are currently six points behind the play-offs, and are level on points with Sheffield United, who Coventry travel to on February 25th

The hardest fixture in terms of their opponents' league position technically comes against Preston North End at present, with the Lilywhites outside the play-offs on goal difference only, as they sit seventh.

As for Middlesbrough, their upcoming block of fixtures sees them take on Oxford United and Leicester City in back-to-back home matches, with the U's and the Foxes currently 23rd and 22nd respectively.

Three of their four outings afterwards are against play-off chasing teams in the form of Birmingham City - who have only lost one league game to-date at St. Andrew's under Chris Davies - Queens Park Rangers and Bristol City, with a matchup against Charlton Athletic sandwiched inbetween their clashes with the Hoops and Robins.

The final match Boro have to play before the international break comes against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, which is an encounter many would expect Hellberg's team to win, even though Rovers are under new management in the form of Michael O'Neill, who is balancing club and international duty right now, with Northern Ireland looking to qualify for the World Cup.

How many points Coventry City and Middlesbrough could accumulate based on previous matches against the same opponents

There are, obviously, no guarantees in football. But, it begs the question as to which of the two sides would hold the advantage if they were able to replicate the results they had against the same seven opponents earlier in the season.

In their previous matches against West Brom, Sheffield United, Stoke City, Bristol City, Preston, Southampton and Swansea, the Sky Blues accumulated a total of 17 points, winning their matches against the Baggies, Blades, Potters, Robins and Swans, whilst drawing against North End and the Saints.

Meanwhile, Middlesbrough did slip up in some of their prior matches against their upcoming opponents, amassing just 12 points out of a possible 21 against Oxford, Leicester, Birmingham, QPR, Charlton, Bristol City and Blackburn, which included a defeat against Gerhard Struber's side at Ashton Gate.

If those results were to be replicated and added onto the current points total, Coventry would still be top of the table on 79 points with seven matches to go, whilst Boro would have 73 from 39 games played, which would give Lampard's side a six-point lead.