Gary Lineker has shared his verdict on the Championship promotion race after watching Leeds United defeat his beloved Leicester City last week.
As they have done pretty much all season, Leicester are still sat top of the division, but are now just six points ahead of both Leeds and Ipswich Town, with Southampton a further five behind.
Though Southampton have endured somewhat of a blip in recent weeks, all four sides are currently setting a standard that has never been seen at the top of the Championship before.
It would be a surprise if they didn’t all comfortably surpass the 90-point mark, which would be an astonishing achievement and leave the two sides who miss out heartbroken in May.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Rest is Football Podcast, Lineker has backed Leeds to win promotion alongside Leicester, suggesting they both have ‘Premier League squads’.
Lineker tips Leeds and Leicester for promotion
“It was end to end stuff. I think Leeds are a decent side. I fancy that Leicester and Leeds will be the two sides promoted back to the Premier League and I think they both, probably, have Premier League squads.”
Leeds’ clash with Leicester seven days ago was arguably the biggest game of the season so far and the win for Daniel Farke’s side mean they have done the double over both the Foxes and Ipswich.
That said, Leicester are still very much in the driving seat for a top two spot with a six-point gap at this stage of the season meaning they have more room for error.
Leeds, meanwhile, are currently on a nine-match winning run in the league and face a run of four games against sides near the bottom where they can really cement their position in the top two.
Ipswich, though, are refusing to go away and are on a decent run of their own, with Southampton’s automatic hopes likely to rest on whether they can win all three of their trips against the top three.
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