Leeds United have a big chance to move back to the top of the Championship table by beating Millwall at Elland Road tonight. They dropped five points in their last two games but the pressure has eased on them after Sheffield United and Burnley only managed to draw their respective games on Tuesday night. The Whites remain favourites to get promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season. However, there is serious trepidation about how Leeds would fare if they go up this season. The widening gap between the Premier League and the Championship has made it harder for promoted teams to survive.
Leicester and Ipswich were two of the most dominant teams in recent Championship history and Southampton beat Leeds in the playoff final last season.
However, all three teams are reeling in the Premier League at this stage of the season and are favourites to come straight back down to the Championship at the end of the campaign.
Leeds United are acutely aware that they would need to have a flawless transfer window and a huge dosage of luck if they are to survive next season if they get promoted to the Premier League.
Daniel Farke’s previous experience in the Premier League was an unmitigated disaster and Troy Deeney has already raised question marks over whether the German has learned anything from his poor record in the top flight.
And the former striker seems to be doubling down on Leeds struggling in the Premier League if they get promoted at the end of the ongoing season.
Leeds United will do the same thing in the Premier League – Troy Deeney
Jim White, Alex Crook and Deeney were discussing the Championship and the possibility of Leeds getting promoted to the Premier League this season.
Leeds have already been backed to buck the trend of promoted teams struggling because of the size and stature of the club and their previous record in the top flight.
And Crook, who is a Manchester United fan, insisted that he expects the Whites to be more competitive in the top flight and do better than what the promoted teams have done this year.
However, Deeney jumped in and insisted we are going to see the same thing from Leeds as every other promoted team have been doing in recent years.
He stressed that Leeds will foolishly try to play good football against some of the best teams in the Premier League and probably get exposed for doing so.
“I completely disagree. I think they’re going to come up and do exactly the same”, Deeney insisted.
“The teams that are coming up are still doing the same thing. They’re trying to out-football the best footballing teams.”
Up to Daniel Farke and his team to shut Deeney up next season
Farke and his players are focused on ensuring Leeds earn their ticket to the Premier League for next season through automatic promotion in the coming months.
They are unlikely to pay any attention to what anyone has to say about what Leeds could do in the Premier League as they are very much in the middle of a tight promotion race.
However, the naysayers will continue to doubt Farke and his ability to adapt or whether Leeds would follow the script and struggle like most promoted teams until they kick off in the top flight next season.
Can you name these 10 Leeds United players from the 2000s?
Yes, it has got more challenging for promoted teams as the gulf in quality between the top two tiers has only widened with each passing year.
However, teams such as Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have also shown that it is not an impossible job to establish yourself in the Premier League through smart recruitment and decisions.
Deeney is predicting the future based on what he has seen in the past, but that is a fallacy, and the Leeds players will hope to force the ex-striker to eat humble pie next season if they get promoted.
If we could go up and be anywhere near as good as Bournemouth have become recently it would be an absolute miracle. Deeny is probably right on some level but if you don’t try to out football football teams then what game are you playing?