Atalanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini acknowledges that his club are enjoying a “fantastic” season after reaching two semi-finals and challenging for Champions League qualification from Serie A.

But the campaign’s business end has now arrived, with Atalanta putting their Coppa Italia hopes on the line in Wednesday’s semi-final second leg against Fiorentina.

They have a Europa League semi-final against Marseille ahead of them next month, but their first task is to try and overturn a 1-0 deficit when Fiorentina arrive in Bergamo.

“This year is extraordinary,” Gasperini told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Now let’s see in the next matches between the Italian Cup and the recoveries. The season is fantastic, now we are in the final verdicts.”

Asked if the season would only be a good one if Atalanta win a trophy, he added: “Winners only if you win a trophy? No, it’s idiocy.

“We each have to reach our own goals, otherwise we would all be losers in life and that’s not how it works. I consider myself lucky for what I’ve done in the various places I’ve been in.”

Atalanta’s solitary Coppa Italia success in the final came 61 years ago with a 3-1 victory over Torino, and they have lost on four successive return visits.

Fiorentina, meanwhile, last lifted the trophy in 2001, and they head to Bergamo on the back of a 2-0 Serie A win against Salernitana.

Andrea Belotti, Nico Gonzalez, Luca Beltran and Giacomo Bonaventura all missed that game with knocks, but should return in an anticipated much-changed team.

Gasperini also rotated his squad for the league clash against Monza, but he is likely to field a more familiar starting XI, with Gianluca Scamacca and Marten de Roon among those recalled.

Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano said: “We have the merit of arriving in May and still being in certain matches, which cannot allow us to switch off.

“We must all be ready and motivated to give 100 per cent, because in these close matches it doesn’t take much to not being able to perform at our best. But we all have guys who always respond when called upon.”

Bellum Justum halved in price for the Derby after Andrew Balding’s colt won the Betfred Blue Riband Trial at Epsom.

While he took four attempts to get off the mark as a juvenile, the form of his win over Kevin Ryan’s Inisherin now looks much stronger than it did at the time and he took another leap forward here.

Ridden by Oisin Murphy, he was content to take a lead off Ryan Moore on Aidan O’Brien’s Chief Little Rock and with those in behind struggling to get on terms, it soon developed into a battle.

Bellum Justum held a narrow advantage for much of the final furlong but while he was well on top of the Ballydoyle runner close home, Roger Varian’s Defiance began to stay on strongly.

Without looking like winning, he closed to within three-quarters of a length of the 9-1 winner, looking promising for the future on just his third outing.

Bellum Justum was cut to 25-1 from 50s for the Derby by both Coral and Paddy Power.

“He had a setback about a month ago and he missed 10 days, so he’s entitled to come on for that today,” Balding told Racing TV.

“His form looked pretty strong and he improved a lot with racing last year and he’s entitled to improve from two to three, so we were fairly sure he’d be there or thereabouts but we’re expecting him to come on for it.

“He’s in the Dante and if he was going to run again that would be the likely target, we’ll just see how the Guineas goes and the other trials and we might end up coming back here.

“He’s out of an Oasis Dream mare but he’s closely related to Fox Tal who stayed a mile and a half.

“He’s up there with our best three-year-olds but unfortunately the one we were really excited about, Anzac Day, has had a setback.”

Crystal Delight (5-2) made a winning debut for Harry Eustace when leading home stablemate Ziggy in the Lilley Plummer Risks City & Suburban Handicap.

Previously trained by the now-retired William Jarvis, he was sent straight to the front by Jim Crowley and controlled matters from the outset.

He kicked clear over two furlongs out and came home five and a half lengths ahead of Ziggy, who stayed on without ever looking a danger.

“William came as he’s good friends with dad (James Eustace) and we ended up with a couple off him, this one and Duke Of Verona and it’s going well so far,” said Eustace.

“I thought he’d run well as he’s been training well at home. It was a small field and he likes making the running, so I thought we’d be able to set our own fractions and that’s what Jim did, it worked out well.

“I had a mile-and-a-half handicap at York in mind so we’ll see how we go.”

Eustace had to settle for third with Duke Of Verona in the Weatherbys Global Stallions App Great Metropolitan Handicap as Champagne Piaff (5-2 favourite) ran out an easy winner for Gary and Ryan Moore.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp accepts results are all that matter at this stage of the season as he looks to end his final Merseyside derby with a rare victory at Goodison Park.

Klopp has lost just one of 18 matches against the Toffees – the behind-closed-doors game at Anfield in February 2021 – but across Stanley Park his record is just two wins and five draws.

He was surprised by some of the reaction to Sunday’s 3-1 win at Fulham, which attracted criticism for not being the most fluent, but insists winning was the main objective, with no margin for error in a title race in which they are currently third favourites.

“I know this is the last part of the season: it is not about playing the freshest football of the whole year – that would be strange if that works out with the schedule all the teams have,” said Klopp, who will be without Diogo Jota for at least a fortnight after the forward injured himself scoring at Craven Cottage.

“But you have to win games and I think we know how to do that and we have to make sure everybody understands the way we want to try (on Wednesday).

“I wouldn’t say it was straightforward but until two weeks ago everything was probably better than anyone would have expected.

“Then you have this week (losing to Atalanta and Crystal Palace) when the performances were not as bad as the results felt afterwards.

“And then it is like, ‘Why don’t you score enough? If you look at our numbers, yes, there are two teams who have scored more than us (Arsenal and Manchester City) but it is not like there are two teams who scored 50 goals more than us.

“It is always about how you can get the right feeling again for the situation and the next game and we usually do that. I am really happy now with the response.”

Liverpool’s disappointing run of games at Goodison stretches beyond Klopp’s arrival in 2015, with nine of the last 11 encounters ending in draws.

Klopp’s five draws are more than at any other away ground, but that has to change on Wednesday night if they are to maintain the pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City.

“I don’t know exactly when my first derby was, 2016, but when I (first) came here it would not be honest if I said that is my game of the year. It wasn’t, I knew how important it was for the people, but didn’t feel it then.

“Now I know it and feel it. My understanding developed over the years. They are always difficult games, especially there, but it is not too important, what we had in the past.”

Losing Jota will not help in unlocking what is likely to be a determined Everton defence, especially as Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz have all looked below their best in recent weeks.

“Unfortunately Diogo scored the goal, felt a little bit and now we found out it’s a little bit more so he will be out for two weeks,” said Klopp, who revealed Jota had complained of a hip problem in the last couple of weeks.

“It’s a small one but we are late in the season, so obviously now it’s not a great moment for each injury pretty much.

“When I say two weeks, actually really it’s pretty much nothing but enough to not be available.”

Harry Fry is excited to see what Gidleigh Park can achieve over fences next season following his sixth-place finish in the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival.

Impressive on his racecourse debut in a Chepstow bumper in the spring of last year, the six-year-old this term established himself as one of Britain’s leading novice hurdlers with a hat-trick of victories.

Having claimed Grade Two honours on Festival Trials day at Cheltenham in January, the son of Walk In The Park lost his unbeaten record on his return to the Cotswolds last month, with Fry blaming a combination of three miles and heavy ground for his slightly disappointing effort.

“He’s fine, it just didn’t happen for us on the day,” said the Dorset-based trainer.

“Obviously, the ground went testing from Thursday night into Friday and suddenly we were encountering what we’d been trying to avoid, which was running him over three miles on testing ground.

“It just meant they went steady, sensibly in the conditions, which didn’t suit us and he just overraced through the early and middle part of it and didn’t give himself a chance to really see it out.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I don’t think we’d have beaten Ballyburn in the other race anyway (Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle). Probably the race we should have run in was the Supreme as it turned out, given the conditions.

“He’s fine and he’s been schooling away over fences since Cheltenham, which has gone very well, ahead of a novice chase campaign next season.

“We’ve always had half an eye on the day this horse goes novice chasing and he won’t be the first novice hurdler to get beat at the Festival and go on to better things over fences.”

Lucinda Russell’s Apple Away looks to round off her season with a win in the Robertson Homes Fair Maid Of Perth Mares’ Chase at Perth.

A Grade One winner over hurdles for owners Old Gold Racing, this term she has turned her hand to chasing without quite matching that success.

Placed in graded races at Warwick and Ascot, she ran well for a long way at Cheltenham before ultimately failing to see out the trip in the National Hunt Chase.

A mixed chasing and hurdling campaign awaits the mare next season, but first she will wrap up the term at Listed level over fences at Perth.

“After Cheltenham she got so cocky again so quickly up in Scotland that Lucinda suddenly said it wasn’t right to put her away,” said Ed Seyfried of Old Gold Racing.

“There was talk of sending her hurdling and we had entries in the both the Liverpool Hurdle and the handicap hurdle on Grand National day, but they were both very competitive and we felt if we were going to reintroduce her to hurdles, we didn’t want to throw her in at the deep end.

“This race is a very nice way to round off the season, it’s competitive and we’re the second or third favourite – that’s probably about right.

“She ran her heart out at Cheltenham, she is so brave and genuine, but stepping her up in trip wasn’t the right thing to do that day.”

Gavin Cromwell’s Malina Girl just failed to make the cut for the Grand National and has been diverted to this contest, where she leads a three-strong Irish challenge in a field of six.

The seven-year-old was last seen over hurdles ahead of her intended National tilt, having won at Cheltenham in November.

“Obviously she didn’t get into the National, which was disappointing, but she seems in good nick and she should hopefully run a good race,” Cromwell said.

“She was over there and ready to go, which is not ideal, she’d travelled over and back and then travelled to Perth.

“She seems in good order though, and she takes everything in her stride so she should be fine.”

The Irish team is boosted by Gordon Elliott’s Riviere D’Etel and Willie Mullins’ Instit, the latter of whom will be vying to add the £18,509 prize to her trainer’s British haul this season.

Mullins currently heads the British jumps trainers’ championship ahead of Dan Skelton and has a significant advantage ahead of the season finale at Sandown at the weekend, with the Perth prize a welcome boost with that aim in mind.

Task Force will be primed to perfection for his Qipco 2000 Guineas tilt after thriving in a racecourse gallop at Newbury on Monday.

The Middle Park runner-up found just sprint star Vandeek too good when visiting Newmarket last autumn and is preparing to step up to a mile on his return to the Rowley Mile for the opening Classic of the season.

Although solely racing at six furlongs in his three starts at two, the Ralph Beckett-trained son of Frankel is bred to be a Guineas contender, with not only his sire a champion at the home of racing but also his dam Special Duty, who was the 1000 Guineas victor in 2010.

Having begun putting the finishing touches to his Guineas preparations with a racecourse sighter over six furlongs, connections are now eagerly looking forward to Task Force’s shot at glory on May 4.

“The gallop went well and the horse did everything Ralph wanted him to do,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte.

“He worked six furlongs and Ralph came away happy with the horse and it leaves him on track for the Guineas on Saturday week.

“He is bred to win a Classic as he’s by a Guineas winner out of a Guineas winner and there are not many horses who boast a pedigree like that. He’s a nice horse and showed good form last year.

“He’s done well from two to three and has changed shape a lot. We feel he definitely doesn’t look a sprinter and last year he was a bit keen and a bit mentally immature, so we kept him to six furlongs and he had the talent to be able to perform over that distance. Now we’re looking forward to seeing if he can be just as effective to win over a mile.”

Task Force is as short as 12-1 for the 2000 Guineas and with no horse leaping out of the pack with a statement performance during the recent trials, connections hope they are in possession of one of the unexposed candidates who can shape up well against the formidable might of City Of Troy and Rosallion.

Mahon continued: “We’re under no illusions and it’s going to be a hard task to beat the two at the top of the market who both look exceptionally talented colts, but it’s a Classic and we have a horse who has shown Group One form and who we think will stay a mile so we have to give it a go and we’re excited to run him.

“We won’t find out until the day whether we’re up to that standard or not, but it’s nice to be able to partake and if there are any weaknesses in the top two, then we hope we are there to pick up the pieces.”

However, there will not be any Juddmonte representation in the Qipco 1000 Guineas, with the Beckett-trained fillies Skellet and Indelible to sit out the Newmarket action.

Skellet was last seen finishing a neck second to Nell Gwyn runner-up Dance Sequence in the Oh So Sharp Stakes but has met with a setback and although the form of Indelible’s two appearances late last year have a smart look to them, her team are keen not to rush her into Classic action.

Both fillies will be given plenty of time to flourish over the next few weeks, with the French and Irish versions of the Guineas possible options available moving forwards.

“They are coming along in their own time and are a little bit behind,” continued Mahon.

“Indelible has just taken a bit of time and Skellet had a small setback that has caused her to miss a couple of days training – nothing of any real significance, just a nuisance of a thing which has meant she’s had to have two or three days off.

“We just said we would sit tight and let them come to themselves and you have a French Guineas 10 or 12 days after the English Guineas and then you have an Irish one in another 10 or 12 days after France and there is no point fitting a square peg in a round hole if they are not ready for Newmarket.”

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has committed to the club until at least 2027 after his contract was extended.

The Spaniard’s existing deal still had two years to run but he has agreed terms for an additional 12 months, the PA news agency understands.

Villa are also keen to sit down with the 52-year-old in the summer and discuss a new longer-term contract.

Emery has done an impressive job at Villa Park, guiding them from a relegation fight when taking over from Steven Gerrard in November 2022 to the brink of Champions League qualification this season.

They are also in the semi-final of the Europa Conference League, where they play Olympiacos, and are the favourites to win the tournament which would represent a first European trophy since 1982.

Due to his impressive work at Villa Park, he was recently linked with the vacant Bayern Munich managerial position, while a number of other top European clubs will be looking for managers this summer and might have targeted the former Sevilla, Arsenal and Paris St Germain boss.

After Emery guided them to a seventh-placed finish last season, Villa have kicked on this term and are in pole position to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League for the first time.

They are sixth points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham, who have two games in hand, and are managing their tough Thursday-Sunday schedule well.

Villa play Chelsea on Saturday night, where they could move nine points clear of Spurs, who play Arsenal on Sunday.

Jack Lisowski forged a 5-4 lead in his World Snooker Championship opener against Ding Junhui as the clash lived up to its billing as the tie of the round.

Lisowski, who reached the quarter-finals at the Crucible in 2022, had to qualify for this year’s tournament after dropping out of the top 16, beating Matthew Stevens 10-3 last week to book his ticket.

But after falling behind early on against Ding, Lisowski looked back to his best as he edged a highly entertaining first session.

Lisowski, 32, looked in danger of being blown away by Ding on Tuesday morning as the 2016 finalist flew out of the blocks, compiling a clearance worth 127 to win the opening frame.

The Chinese star then enjoyed a huge slice of luck in the second as he fluked a red into a middle pocket early on, but a missed black at 23-0 opened the door for Lisowski to pot his first ball of the day.

Lisowski was only able to score a solitary point at that visit before letting Ding back in, though, and he finished the frame with a break of 60 to make it 2-0.

The Englishman hit back in the next, rattling off a break of 72 to reduce Ding’s lead to one.

And Lisowski went into the mid-session interval tied at 2-2 courtesy of a break of 91 in the fourth frame.

Ding displayed his brilliant battling qualities in the fifth frame as he conjured a 98 to edge ahead once more.

An attritional sixth frame, which lasted more than half an hour as a tactical battle broke out, went Lisowski’s way as he drew level.

But Ding made quick work of the next frame, winning it with a break of 90 to go 4-3 up before Lisowski took the eighth.

And Lisowski won the final frame of the session to lead for the first time in the match.

Former finalist Kyren Wilson has one foot in the second round after storming into an 8-1 lead against Welshman Dominic Dale, who is making his Crucible comeback after a 10-year absence.

Wilson started brightly, winning the first two frames before Dale seemed set to get his first frame on the board after opening up a 30-0 lead in the third.

But Wilson made Dale pay for missing the pink as he roared back with a break of 75 to take a 3-0 lead.

Dale was not to be denied in the fourth frame, though, producing a stunning break of 120 to get on the scoreboard.

Wilson regained command immediately after the interval with a phenomenal break of 123 before a 98 in the next frame moved him 5-1 in front.

Englishman Wilson then showed exceptional nerve to come from behind to win the next frame 74-70 to extend his lead to five.

Wilson’s dominance continued as he won the next two frames with breaks of 77 and 73 to extend his massive lead.

Erik Ten Hag has branded the reaction to Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Coventry “embarrassing” and “a disgrace”.

Having let slip a 3-0 lead at Wembley with 20 minutes to go and then won on penalties after the Championship side had an extra-time goal disallowed for a marginal offside, United were heavily criticised by pundits and fans alike despite making it back-to-back finals.

Ten Hag met a question about whether he understood the response at a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s clash against Sheffield United with a feisty response, saying: “No, absolutely not.

“The question: ‘Is it embarrassing?’ No, the reaction from you was embarrassing. It is the comments. Top football is about results, we made it to a final and we deserved it not only by this game but also the other games.

“We lost control for 20 minutes, we also had bad luck, 3-2, 3-3. We were very lucky in the end, clear. Penalties was very good and we made it to the final, it is a huge achievement. Twice in two years is magnificent.

“For me as a manager, four cup finals in four years. The comments are a disgrace.”

Antony has come in for particular criticism after he cupped his ear with his hand in a mocking gesture towards the Coventry players when Rasmus Hojlund netted the winning penalty.

Ten Hag accepted Antony was wrong but claimed he was provoked, saying: “That’s why, this was a reaction of that, you haven’t seen the provocation, only the reaction. But he should not do it.

“I have seen Harry Maguire straight after and others, we should acknowledge the performance of Coventry to come into that…and the comeback. Also see we are 70 minutes totally dominating the game by far and creating many chances.

“At 3-0 it must have been the game is closed but the return from their side was very good.”

The collapse added further intensity to the spotlight on Ten Hag’s position, and on Friday United announced that Jason Wilcox had left Southampton with immediate effect to become their new technical director.

Ten Hag said he was looking forward to working very closely with the former winger, adding: “We have to form a partnership, it’s very important. We are a little behind in the process so we have to catch up, so we will go and speed up the process.

“I met him yesterday for the first time, we had some talks. This week we will not have so much time but from Monday on we will go forward.

“Of course I know his profile, I know his methods in youth, a lot of experience there and then one year at Southampton. I know his background so I am looking forward to our partnership.”

United’s injury crisis continued at Wembley, with Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes all picking up problems.

McTominay and Rashford are both doubtful for Wednesday but Ten Hag expects Garnacho and Fernandes to be able to play.

Nottingham Forest will be given the opportunity to privately hear the VAR audio connected to three penalty claims in their match against Everton last Sunday.

Forest called on Monday for the audio between Stuart Attwell and on-field official Anthony Taylor to be released publicly.

Sources close to referees body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) insist it has nothing to hide and will give the club the opportunity to hear the audio in private, as it would any other club making a similar request.

The PA news agency understands no decision has yet been taken on whether this audio would also feature in the next edition of ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’, which will air next Tuesday evening.

The audio related to a wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool at Tottenham earlier this season was released publicly, but in that instance there had been a serious communication error so the matter was treated differently.

Forest have been contacted by PA regarding the offer to release the audio.

The club have risked Football Association and Premier League sanction over their extraordinary response to the three rejected penalty appeals.

The club said in a statement on Sunday they had “warned” PGMOL that VAR Stuart Attwell “was a Luton fan” but that PGMOL did not change the appointment.

The Premier League said it was “extremely disappointed” by the statement, adding it was “never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials”.

The league said it was investigating the matter in relation to the league’s rules, with regulations B.15 and B.16 governing the requirement on clubs and their officials to behave with utmost good faith.

Forest went on to release a further statement on Monday evening calling for the rules around referees’ allegiances to be updated to account for “contextual rivalries in the league table”.

Referees do already declare allegiances and will not be assigned that team’s matches, or certain other fixtures such as those involving direct local rivals of that club. For instance, Michael Oliver has spoken in the past about he cannot referee Newcastle games because he is a fan.

Other factors that determine appointments include which teams an official’s immediate family members support, as well as performance and the number of times they have officiated a particular team’s matches.

PGMOL takes all of that into account and endeavours to make the best appointments possible when allocating six officials to each Premier League fixture from a pool of 70 to 75, while also fulfilling Championship refereeing appointments.

Ultimately, it has confidence in the impartiality and professionalism of its officials.

No club is believed to have ever questioned the process in the manner Forest have since the birth of the Premier League 32 years ago, and nor have the club raised any concerns in relation to the previous occasions when Attwell has been the VAR at their matches this season.

English officials are clearly well thought of by UEFA, with eight included in the list for Euro 2024 this summer.

Taylor will lead one of two English referee teams at Euro 2024, with Oliver leading the other. Attwell and David Coote have been named as VARs.

Three Forest staff – manager Nuno Espirito Santo, full-back Neco Williams and referee analyst Mark Clattenburg – have been asked by the FA for observations on the comments they made about the officiating at Goodison Park.

Scottie Scheffler claimed his fourth win in five events on Monday when the weather-delayed RBC Heritage concluded at Hilton Head.

That run includes a second Masters title and has seen the world number one extend his sizeable lead over Rory McIlroy at the top of the rankings.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the facts and figures around Scheffler’s streak and how they compare to previous runs.

Winning any event on the PGA Tour is difficult, but Scheffler has claimed two of the biggest in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship, a major championship at Augusta National and the RBC Heritage, which boasted a stronger than usual field after being elevated to a Signature Event this season. Victory at Sawgrass made Scheffler the first player ever to win back-to-back Players titles. His only “failure” was a tie for second in the Houston Open.

Scheffler is the first player to win four times in five starts on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods, who did so at the end of 2007 and again to start 2008. He is also the third player in the last 30 years – after Woods and Vijay Singh (2004) – to win or finish runner-up in five consecutive starts on the PGA Tour. With many players taking a break after winning a major, Scheffler is also the first to win a PGA Tour event the week after claiming a green jacket since Bernhard Langer in 1985.

Scheffler has banked an average of £3.17million for each of his four victories and “only” £448,000 for his five-way tie for second behind Stephan Jaeger in the Houston Open. The total sum of £13.14m would place Scheffler 145th on the PGA Tour’s career earnings list and he is closing in on the single-season record of £17million he set last year. In comparison, Woods won nine times on the PGA Tour in 2000, including three major titles, and never finished worse than 23rd in 20 starts. His prize money totalled £7.4m.

In a word, yes. Ahead of the Genesis Invitational in mid-February, Rory McIlroy could have become world number one by winning at Riviera with Scheffler finishing third or worse. Now, Scheffler has more than double the total and average points of McIlroy, while the average points gap between the top two (7.6493) is bigger than that between McIlroy and the players tied for 4,123st in the standings.

Not quite. Hours before Scheffler completed his victory in Hilton Head, fellow American Nelly Korda had wrapped up a fifth consecutive win on the LPGA Tour by claiming her second major title in the Chevron Championship. Korda’s winning streak matches that of Nancy Lopez in 1978 and Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05, although her bid for an unprecedented sixth straight win will have to wait after she cited exhaustion when pulling out of this week’s event in Los Angeles. While Scheffler has earned £13.14m from his last five events, Korda’s five wins have been worth £1.94m.

The battle for automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship continues to intensify as Leeds moved into the top-two with a nail-biting win over Middlesbrough on Monday.

Leaders Leicester sit just two points ahead of third-placed Ipswich and the Foxes take on Southampton tonight, where defeat for fourth-placed Saints would all but end their automatic hopes.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the remaining weeks of an increasingly tense Championship run-in.

Leicester (1st, played 43, 91 points, +42 goal difference)

Run-in: Southampton (h), Preston (a), Blackburn (h).

Once seemingly certain to return to the top flight after a single season in the second tier – Enzo Maresca’s side were 17 points clear of Leeds – Leicester have suffered a crisis of confidence just at the wrong time.

A 2-1 home defeat by Middlesbrough on February 17 launched a run of 10 league games culminating in a 1-0 reverse at Plymouth which saw them lose six times and collect just 10 of the 30 points available.

However, a 2-1 victory over play-off chasing West Brom took them back to the top of the table and with two of their last three fixtures at the King Power Stadium, they will hope they can make home advantage count.

Leeds (2nd, played 44, 90 points, +43 goal difference)

Run-in: QPR (a), Southampton (h).

As with Leicester, Leeds have suffered a wobble at the most inopportune moment.

A 2-1 defeat at Coventry on April 6 was their first in the league since the turn of the year and, having seen Sunderland leave Elland Road with a point three days later, Daniel Farke’s men lost on home soil for the first time this season last Saturday when Sammie Szmodics fired Blackburn to victory in West Yorkshire.

But they came out on the right end of a seven-goal thriller in Teesside on Monday, claiming a 4-3 win over Middlesbrough that Farke will hope can be a springboard for their final two fixtures.

Ipswich (3rd, played 43, 89 points, +32 goal difference)

Run-in: Hull (a), Coventry (a), Huddersfield (h).

Ipswich’s unlikely tilt at back-to-back promotions has hit the buffers in recent weeks after a remarkable run of nine wins in 10 Championship outings was brought to an end by derby rivals Norwich.

A 1-0 defeat at Carrow Road on April 6 has been followed by home draws with Watford and Middlesbrough and Town must rediscover the form which earned manager Kieran McKenna the accolade of Championship Manager of the Season on Sunday evening if they are to reach the top flight.

However, all three of their remaining opponents still have something to play for, with Hull and Coventry on the fringes of the play-off race and Huddersfield battling desperately to avoid the drop.

Southampton (played 43, 84 points, +29 goal difference)

Run-in: Leicester (a), Stoke (h), Leeds (a).

Southampton’s bad patch arrived in February, when they lost to Bristol City, Hull and Millwall either side of a 2-0 success at West Brom in the space of 12 days.

A 3-0 win over Preston a week ago was their third in succession but despite taking the lead at Cardiff on Saturday, the Bluebirds claimed a last-gasp victory and Saints are now six points adrift of the top two.

How they fare against Leicester may go a long way to deciding their fate, while a visit to Leeds on the final day of the season promises to be a must-watch.