Following Leeds United’s defeat, Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca makes a claim for Sunderland.

Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca believes Sunderland could be one of many sides in the promotion mix at the end of this term, making this prediction to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

The Foxes are still in pole position to secure automatic promotion along with Ipswich Town, with both teams starting the campaign extremely well.

However, less than a third of the 2023/24 campaign has unfolded and with this in mind, there’s plenty of time for clubs to force their way into the promotion mix, even if they are at the bottom end of the division at the moment.

Middlesbrough were previously in the relegation zone during the early stages of last term – but finished in fourth place in the end and were unlucky not to have secured promotion under Michael Carrick.

That will give many teams plenty of encouragement – and there will be many teams looking to secure a place in the top six with the quality of the division arguably increasing this year – with a recently promoted team sitting in the automatic promotion zone.

That just reinforces the difficult task many teams face in their quest to match or secure a better finish than they did last season.

What did Enzo Maresca say about Sunderland?

Despite Leicester’s excellent start to the season, Maresca is keeping his feet on the ground and last night’s 1-0 defeat against Leeds United would have helped with that.

The Whites’ victory at the King Power Stadium has reinforced the fact that there are still plenty of teams in contention for automatic promotion despite the Foxes and the Tractor Boys’ strong start – and the fact plenty of teams are in the race to secure promotion regardless of whether they are competing for the top two or the top six.

And Maresca has listed some of the teams that could be in the mix, saying: “There are many teams building to get promoted like us, Leeds they are building to get promoted.

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“With Leicester, with Ipswich, with Southampton – it’s a long race for many clubs, not just Leeds and Leicester. For me, Sunderland could be there.”

It’s clear that Maresca rates the Black Cats highly and that isn’t a big surprise considering Tony Mowbray’s side finished in sixth place at the end of last season, doing so despite their lack of forward options.

Will Sunderland finish in the promotion mix at the end of this season?

At the time of writing, the Black Cats are only one point adrift of the top six but there are so many teams who will want to be in the top six.

Leicester, Ipswich and Leeds look to be favourites to be there at this stage – and Southampton and Middlesbrough who will also be expected to be in there.

But that won’t stop the likes of Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion wanting to defend their places in the top six.

Mowbray’s side may have to rely on results elsewhere to secure a place in the play-offs again – but it’s difficult to see them being one of the promotion favourites at this point considering their lack of experience in the forward department and Amad Diallo not being there to compensate for that