Leeds United sit at the summit of the Championship on 59 points after 28 games and are one of the biggest favourites to get automatic promotion to the Premier League this season. Last year’s playoff final heartbreak is still fresh in their memories and the Whites are determined to ensure that they get the job done during the regular season. They have more points in their bag at this stage of the campaign than last year and are on course to breach the 90-point mark again this time around. If Leeds score as many points or more compared to last season, they are almost certain to get promoted. If we look at the history of the Championship in the last two decades, they are in a fantastic position to get promoted at the end of the ongoing campaign.
When the final whistle blew in the playoff final last season, the Leeds United players were down in the dumps while the Southampton stars celebrated getting back to the Premier League.
Leeds became the first side since 1998 not to get promoted to the Premier League after scoring 90 or more points in the Championship in an outlier of a season.
They knew that they would lose some of their best players in the summer and Daniel Farke was forced to rebuild his squad to ensure that they remain in the hunt for promotion for a second season running.
Leeds have been the best team in the league this season and Farke deserves credit for helping the players to get over their heartbreak from last year and put in a renewed effort this term.
Looking back at how teams have got promoted to the Premier League from the Championship, Leeds must fancy themselves to get the job done this season.
Leeds United have history on their side, except there is a wrinkle
The Championship is a volatile league and a tricky place to go up from if you don’t get it done within the first few years of getting relegated from the Premier League.
Leeds are a giant club but it took them close to two decades to get back up to the Premier League and they could run out of time again if they don’t get the job done this season.
However, despite the chaos of the Championship, some things have remained consistent over the years and Leeds should bank on those factors.
Since, the 2004/05 season, only twice have a side failed to get promoted to the Premier League after leading the Championship table after 28 games. It is safe to bet on getting back to the top flight if you are at the top of the table at this stage of the season.
The trivial should please the Leeds fans but there is a word of caution as one of those two sides are Leeds themselves when they failed to get promoted in 2018/19.
Ipswich are the other side who failed to do so in the 2004/05 season after leading the table at this stage of the season.
The good news for Leeds is that they have more points in the bag after 28 games than they had in 2018/19. However, the gap to the third-place team, which is just three points, is smaller and therefore so is the margin for error.
Learn lessons from last season
Leeds must heed the lessons from last season and rectify to ensure that they finish in the top two to get automatically promoted to the Premier League.
Farke would admit that his side’s performances dropped towards the end of last season and they struggled to score goals once Crysencio Summerville stopped hitting the back of the net consistently.
Leeds have spread out their goals much more this time around and they do not have an outstanding forward in their squad at the moment.
The team also looked a bit tired and jaded and it seems Farke is keen to avoid that situation by suggesting they could bring in as many as three new players before the end of the winter transfer window.
The Leeds players and Farke are under pressure to deliver as a lot of the owners’ plans for the club are dependent on them becoming a Premier League side again.
