David Prutton predicts whether Leeds United will win automatic promotion to the Premier League

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Leeds United, Sunderland, Sheffield United and Burnley are the four main teams competing for the top two spots in the Championship table this season.

Sunderland and Sheffield United are first and second respectively in the table after 15 rounds of matches. Both have picked up 31 points.

Leeds are third on 29 points. The Whites will be confident of adding to their points-tally this weekend. Leeds take on Swansea City and are favourites to win the Championship game.

Burnley are two points behind Leeds in fourth. Watford and West Bromwich Albion are on 26 and 25 points respectively.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	SunderlandSunderland	15	9	4	2	25	11	14	31
2	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	15	10	3	2	19	7	12	31
3	LeedsLeeds	15	8	5	2	24	9	15	29
4	BurnleyBurnley	15	7	6	2	18	6	12	27
5	WatfordWatford	16	8	2	6	25	24	1	26
6	West BromWest Brom	15	6	7	2	16	9	7	25
7	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	15	7	3	5	23	17	6	24
8	MillwallMillwall	15	6	5	4	18	13	5	23

Daniel Farke’s side were in the hunt for automatic promotion last season but fell away in the final weeks of the campaign.

Leeds reached the Championship play-off final but lost to Southampton. Some Elland Road faithful might be worried about a similar scenario this time around.

David Prutton delivers verdict on Leeds United’s promotion chances

David Prutton, though, does not think that history will repeat itself. The former Leeds star has backed the Whites to get the job done this season and win automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Prutton told The Yorkshire Evening Post: “I think right now, my gut feeling is a Leeds-Sheffield United top two, in which order I don’t quite know. 

“That’s no disrespect to Sunderland because they’ve been fantastic and potentially you’ve got the makings of an Ipswich-like run at the top two which doesn’t have the heavy weight of expectation nor the assumption that they can go the distance. But they’ve been very good so far.”

Where Leeds need to improve

While Prutton is confident about Leeds winning automatic promotion from the Championship, the Sky Sports presenter has noted an issue with the team.

Prutton has pointed out that Leeds need to avoid results such as the one against Millwall. He has also urged the Whites to be more clinical and defensively more solid.

Leeds lost 1-0 to Millwall at The Den earlier this month. The Whites have scored 24 goals and conceded nine in 15 Championship games this season.

Prutton wrote in the same column in The Yorkshire Evening Post: “In terms of what Leeds need to do better – they have got to keep an eye on those slight anomalous results such as the Millwall one.”

The pundit added: “As and when the games have kind of ebbed and flowed with Leeds, there’s always a question of how clinical they can be.

“There’s always a question, obviously, of how defensively sound they can be.

“But they are questions that will be asked all the way across the season and it ebbs and it flows with regards to what they do and what they’re best at.”