I’ve said it before and at risk of repeating myself, this season’s promotion race in the Championship will be one for the ages. You could make a solid argument that the quality throughout the division is not as strong as it has been in some previous years, but that position will hold no water when you turn your attention to the top of the league table.
Leicester City are a Premier League team in all but name given the size and strength of their impressive squad. Southampton have a side that everyone expected to be challenging, such is their own quality, while the likes of Ipswich Town, West Bromwich Albion and even big-spending Hull City boast squads that are worthy of a promotion challenge.
Despite that quality at the top end, nobody could have predicted the race for promotion that we are seeing emerge in front of us. Should the current points per game ratio stay the same, or amazingly even improve, the chances the team who finishes in third place will miss out on automatic promotion despite registering well over 90 points. That’s almost unthinkable!
But that’s looking more and more likely as Leeds, Leicester and Southampton continue to keep finding ways to win. The Whites’ 2-0 victory at Plymouth Argyle, with goals for Georginio Rutter and Wilfied Gnonto, took the side back into second place in the table and provided the perfect response to Southampton winning at West Bromwich Albion the night before.
Leeds did it without playing their best form, instead showing the type of maturity with and without the ball that you often need when you go to difficult places like Home Park, a venue that has not seen a defeat since October of last year, which should be remembered.
