Relegation permutations: How can Walsall avoid the drop?
We’ve watched nine months of football and 45 league games – but Walsall’s season all boils down to this.
The Saddlers travel to take on Shrewsbury on Saturday knowing they have to win to have any chance of avoiding relegation.
Sadly, even three points may not be enough for Martin O’Connor’s side – with the team also needing two other results elsewhere to go in their favour.
But while that sounds like a long-shot, fans are daring to dream following the excellent 3-0 win over Peterborough last weekend.
Scunthorpe, Plymouth, Southend and Wimbledon are the other four teams all going into the final day battling to survive.
Scunthorpe and Plymouth play each other. Southend face a daunting clash at home to Sunderland, while Wimbledon travel to rock-bottom Bradford.
Every single one of those fixtures looks impossible to predict on a final day where can anything can happen.
But to keep fans in the picture on what is set to be a frantic Saturday, the Express & Star has teamed up with Twitter page Saddlers Stats to produce this permutations chart. It plots all the ways Walsall can survive based on what is happening elsewhere.
At the moment, the Saddlers are 1/5 on with most bookmakers to go down.
But a look at this chart can’t help but give you hope of a Great Escape.
For example, if Walsall beat Shrewsbury, Scunthorpe beat a Plymouth side who sacked their manager this week and Southend do lose against Sunderland – then the Saddlers are safe.
It almost sounds simple. It never is though. So this handy guide will hopefully keep you up to date on what is sure to be a frantic weekend.
