Championship games focus of Easter Monday football including Coventry vs Hull City and Millwall vs Norwich City
Championship games will be the focus of football fans’ attention this Easter Monday.
Football focus moves from the FA Cup to the Championship on Easter Monday. Fixtures in the Sky Bet Championship today (April 6) see league leaders Coventry taking on play-off hopefuls Hull City, looking to retain an 11-point lead at the top over Millwall, who host Norwich City.
Meanwhile, third-placed Middlesborough travel to Swansea, with fourth-placed Ipswich at home to Birmingham City. At the other end of the table, Leicester and Oxford will attempt to climb out of the bottom three with away games at Sheffield Wednesday and Portsmouth respectively.
However, while the second tier of English football rolls on, fallout is continuing following the FA Cup quarter finals. While Manchester City progressed after a dominant win against Liverpool, there are reports Bernardo Silva’s career at the Etihad could be coming to an end.
As City were drawn against Sky Bet Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup semi-finals - with Leeds facing Chelsea in the other tie - Silva looks set to leave this summer.
Assistant manager Pep Lijnders, who handled media duties for City at the weekend, indicated the Portugal midfielder, who has won six Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups and five Carabao Cups in his trophy cabinet from a 450-appearance career in Manchester, appeared to confirm the 31-year-old's imminent departure.
He is in the final year of his contract and his future has been the subject of speculation throughout the current season, with Lijnders responding to a question about how City might replace him by saying "every good story comes to an end". "I hope he enjoys the last months – because there is only six weeks – and has a good farewell," he said. "He deserves all the attention as well."
It came after City's big win against Liverpool was accompanied by a shock victory for Championship side Southampton against Premier League frontrunners Arsenal. The Saints will face City after their 2-1 win.
Meanwhile, Leeds will face Chelsea in the other semi-final having overcome West Ham in a dramatic quarter-final penalty shootout. Having led 2-0 at the London Stadium, the West Yorkshire club saw the hosts score twice in added time to take it to an extra 30 minutes, only for the visitors to eventually triumph 4-2 on penalties and claim a place in the last four for the first time since 1987.
The ties will be played on Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26 at Wembley. Arsenal will now look to extinguish their cup woes with a Champions League quarter-final match-up against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.