Another positive result for Leeds United on Saturday afternoon at Carrow Road has seen the team move up to third place in the Championship, just shy of the top-two target that would see them promoted back to the Premier League at the end of the season. The 3-2 comeback win over Norwich City was their fourth win in five matches, the kind of run of form that any side eyeing automatic promotion will need to be regularly stringing together.
But so far this season, the current top two have been performing even better than that. Leicester City have set a blistering pace this season and if the Foxes beat Sunderland on Tuesday night, it will be the second-best start to a second-tier season since Bury in 1894-95 after winning 11 of their opening 12 games. Ipswich Town in second place are relative slackers, having dropped five points from the 33 that have been available to them so far.
So while the clocks haven’t even gone back yet, a clear gap is opening up to the top two. Leeds are the best of the chasing pack but remain 11 points adrift of Leicester and six off Ipswich, with the Tractor Boys having a game in hand after their trip to Rotherham was postponed at the weekend.
History would suggest that these kinds of runs of form do not last forever. And while the Championship has a knack of throwing up the unexpected and flipping narratives at the drop of a hat during the winter months, Leeds do currently fund themselves in a position where they will not want to see this gap get any bigger.
Ideally, they will start eating into the deficit and will be hoping that the old football cliche that it’s easier to be a chaser rather than a pace-setter will come true this season. So where will the opportunities to breach the gap come in the next week weeks? We’ve had a look at the next four rounds of Championship fixtures ahead of the November international break to see if there are any straws to clutch at.
Midweek rounds can often throw up unexpected results, with the top three all on their travels this week. Sunderland stumbled at the weekend, losing to former boss Alex Neil’s Stoke City, but Leeds will be hoping this was a blip and that Thorp Arch graduate Jack Clarke can do his side a favour and slow down the Foxes.
The Tractor Boys have a long east-to-west journey but will be well rested after their match on Saturday was postponed. Stoke City currently sit 20th in the table, but will have their tails up after seeing off the Black Cats and use their cliched midweek home advantage in their favour.
If Leeds are able to utilise their squad effectively and Sunderland’s young guns are firing, there’s a chance of closing the gap.
