If two automatically go up, if the third place team is more than 7 points ahead of the fourth place club, there are no play-offs for that season and the third place club goes up.
Yes, if Barnsley are playing Brighton and then Crystal Palace, and Craig Davies scythes down Will Buckley to gain a yellow card, leading to a ban in the next match, it would mean that Crystal Palace benefit from the yellow card more than Brighton. In other words, it's best to punish a team in...