Leeds United, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and now Southampton are all set to battle it out in the next couple of weeks for those top two spots in the Championship.
After Southampton’s 3-0 demolition of Preston North End on Tuesday, just five points separate the top four, with both Leicester and the Saints having a game in hand over the other two sides, which actually comes against each other.
Southampton had looked dead and buried just a week or two ago, but consecutive slip-ups from all of Leeds, Leicester and Ipswich have allowed them back into the race. Russell Martin admitted it has been a big week for his side.
Leeds had been unstoppable prior to the international break, but in the five matches since the resumption of the season, they have picked up just five points.
Destiny is now very much out of their hands and here at LeedsUnited.news, we expect that Leeds will have to pick up at least seven points to stand a chance of second place.
Parker predicts whether Leeds will finish in top two after slump
It is all set up to be one of the most intense finishes to a Championship season in many years, with it a long time since four sides have all had realistic hopes of automatic promotion at this stage.
With that in mind, pundits have been giving their verdicts and predictions on the race, with Danny Murphy yesterday claiming Leeds are who he wants to see go up.
Troy Deeney, meanwhile, thinks the pressure could be too much for Leeds. Given their recent form, it is hard to argue against that being the case.
And on the latest episode of the LS11 Podcast, former Leeds defender Ben Parker has now delivered his prediction, as he continues to back the Whites to get the job done.
He said: “The frustrating part is, if we had taken care of our own business, we would be top by six or seven points. But we are still in with a great chance and it could’ve been a lot worse. Leicester and Ipswich could have been out of sight.
“Three games to go, how many points do we need? I have given up on predicting. All I am predicting is that we are going to get in the top two. I don’t know how, or how many points we are going to need, what Ipswich and Leicester are going to do, but we are going to be in the top two.
“Just throw everything out of the window now because how everyone predicted it, you just thought everyone would keep on winning and we’d get there by default that way.
“Whereas now, stop looking at form, stats, because they mean nothing. It’s about who can hold it together and I think we will hold it together just enough to get top two.”
Leeds, Leicester, Ipswich & Southampton run-ins compared
Both Leeds and Ipswich now have just three matches remaining this season, with Leicester and Southampton both having to play each other in their game in hand.
Leeds actually have a minor advantage over Ipswich in that they play twice, at Middlesbrough and QPR, before the Tractor Boys are back in action. Their next two matches are at Hull and Coventry City.
As mentioned, Leicester and Southampton face one another next Tuesday, but face matches with West Brom (H) and Cardiff City (A) respectively first. The former then travel to Preston North End, with the latter hosting Stoke City.
The final day sees a potentially monumental clash at Elland Road between Leeds and Southampton, while Ipswich and Leicester facing home matches against relegation battling Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers respectively.
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