Where Mansfield Town will finish in Opta's predicted League One final standings

Clubs are now at the business end of their seasons and there are still battles unfolding at both the top and bottom of the table. Mansfield Town have now matched last season’s overall tally of 54 points, with five games left to mathematically secure their survival.

Stags recently saw their eight-game unbeaten run come to an end against Wigan Athletic, who have also been fighting to put as much daylight as possible between them and the bottom four. Latics are now eight points clear of the danger zone, having won their last three games in a row.

Mansfield then recorded their sixth 0-0 draw of the season when they took on Leyton Orient in East London this week. The O’s are now winless in their last five and four points above the drop.

League One relegation predictions

Northampton Town sealed their fate on Wednesday when they lost to promotion hopefuls Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. Cobblers’ are rock bottom of the League One table on 35 points and will be relegated at the end of the season. Rotherham United will also join them in League Two next season, meanwhile, Port Vale’s recent run of form means they still have a fighting chance at this point.

Exeter City also stand a chance of clawing their way out of the bottom four but they are relying on those above them to drop points. As things stand, they are three points behind their closest safe rivals in AFC Wimbledon, who have lost their last five fixtures.

Opta has predicted this to be the order of 24th to 13th in the final League One standings:

The current bottom four is not expected to change according to Opta’s latest forecast. Exeter are not expected to survive the drop, as they have an expected points (xPts) final tally of 50.66, while Wimbledon sneak through with 53.40 xPts.

Above Wimbledon sit Blackpool, Burton and Leyton Orient, all within a point of each other in 19th-17th. Doncaster, Peterborough and Wigan make up 16th through to 14th, with Mansfield Town perched atop of this group in 13th on an expected points tally of 59.89.

Stags have been predicted to fall just short of the desired 60-point mark but with plenty of daylight between them and the bottom four.

League One promotion predictions

There’s also plenty of action bubbling up in the top half of the table as the final play-off spot is still achievable for multiple clubs. The likes of Luton Town, Huddersfield and Plymouth will be hoping Stevenage slip up in their final four games so they can elbow them out of sixth place.

Luton are Stags’ next opponents and manager Jack Wilshere is eager to keep this positive run going strong. Hatters will need to pick up as many points as possible from their remaining four games but they also need Stevenage to stumble again after they lost 5-1 to Bolton last time out.

Opta’s final table predicts the following for the top half of League One:

Lincoln City will be crowned champions with a forecast of 100.22 xPts, followed by Cardiff City in the second automatic promotion spot with 89.04 xPts. Stockport, Bolton, Bradford and Stevenage have been predicted to make up the play-offs – a change in order compared to the current top six, but still the same clubs.

Luton have been predicted to miss out on the play-offs with their 69.75 xPts falling shy of Stevenage’s 72.73 xPts. After Hatters, Plymouth, Huddersfield, Reading, Wycombe and Barnsley make up the remainder of the top 12.

Here’s the full predicted table in order: