In recent weeks, the Championship relegation battle looked like it was thinning out. Sheffield Wednesday are of course bottom of the table.
Norwich City are currently 23rd, but they’ve looked like a different team under Philippe Clement. The Canaries are now just four points inside of the relegation zone.
There are now only six points between them and 17th place Charlton Athletic. So, who will go down alongside Sheffield Wednesday.
As mentioned, Philippe Clement has transformed Norwich since his appointment. Of his eight games in charge, the Belgian has overseen three wins, three draws and two losses.
Furthermore, his side are unbeaten at home and have scored in every game in that time.
Compare that to Liam Manning’s tenure, where Norwich only took nine points from his fifteen games in charge and became the first team in the history of English football’s second tier to lose their first seven home league games of the season.
The Canaries will almost certainly pull away from the drop zone over the next few weeks.
Oxford made the shock decision to sack manager Gary Rowett last Tuesday.
However, the Us would silence their critics in their very next game, beating Southampton 2-1 on Boxing Day.
Their survival chances hinge on their next managerial appointment.
With the right manager and with the table as it is, there is no reason as to why Oxford couldn’t stay up.
The lowest scorers in the Championship aside from Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth haven’t looked like the side they did last season.
Arguably, this is surprising considering that they managed to hold onto their two prized assets Josh Murphy and Colby Bishop.
Bishop especially has underperformed, with only one goal to his name this season.
Pompey are unbeaten in their last three games so at least they are picking up points, but they still need to do more.
The January transfer window will be crucial for them.
Despite a phenomenal start to the season, Charlton now find themselves looking over their shoulder. The Addicks have lost six of their last eight Championship games, leaving them in 20th place.
If they want to ensure their survival, they need to score more goals. Only Sheffield Wednesday and Portsmouth have found the net fewer times.
Meanwhile, Nathan Jones’ side showed earlier in the season that they can compete in the Championship.
But, they desperately need to rediscover that form if they don’t want to be heading back to League One at the first opportunity.
Considering the number of players who left Ewood Park in the summer, it isn’t too surprising to see Blackburn struggling.
Something which certainly hasn’t helped them is the fact that two of their home matches had to be abandoned due to the weather.
The first of these was against Ipswich Town.
Despite leading 1-0 with ten minutes to play and having a man advantage, Rovers were forced to play the entire game again.
In the replay, they once again found themselves 1-0 with ten minutes to play.
However, this time, Ipswich equalised in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Their game against Sheffield Wednesday was also abandoned but the replay has not yet taken place. The former Premier League champions strengths are certainly in defence.
Away from postponed games, only six sides have conceded fewer goals than them and five of those currently occupy a playoff spot.
But, on the other hand, only three sides have scored fewer goals than Rovers.
With this in mind, out of all of the sides in the bottom eight, Blackburn are the toughest to call.
They’re strong defensively and capable of an upset, but their behind-the-scenes issues always seem to hold them back.
I think that Swansea will be a Championship side next season, simply because they have shown that they can beat the sides around them.
In their last five games, they have taken maximum points from games against Oxford, Portsmouth and Wrexham.
However, their survival does depend on retaining Zan Vipotnik.
The Slovenian has eleven goals in 26 games this season, which has got the attention of West Ham United.
It is vital that he is still a Swansea player when the January transfer window closes.
When Chris Wilder returned to Bramall Lane in late September, many expected Sheffield United to fly up the table.
Whilst his return has seen a vast improvement, the Blades are still only 17th.
Meanwhile, their 33 goals scored is the most of anyone in the bottom nine so finding the net is clearly not a problem for them.
However, they have conceded the joint-third most goals in the division (37).
Based on the quality in their squad, they should survive.