Championship 23/24: The League Title Nobody Wants To Win
England’s second tier is often looked upon as one of the most enthralling and dramatic divisions in European football. Famous for it’s “anyone can beat anyone” magic, the league often throws out ashtonishing and unexpected results.
This season, however, has possibly been one of the most interesting yet, with Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Leeds United, and Southampton in a promotion race where it almost seems as though none of them want to win. The EFL Championship 23/24 has been a spectacle of teams refusing to go too far ahead of the pack.
Seventeen Points Clear to One Point Behind
Let’s start with Leicester City, The Foxes looked almost guaranteed to make an instant return to the top flight earlier this season, as they had a 17-point lead at the top of the table at the turn of the year while Ipswich, Southampton, and Leeds rotated in and out of the 2nd automatic promotion spot.
However, a disastrous run of form saw Leicester drop out of the top two entirely on Good Friday following a 1-0 loss to Bristol City at Ashton Gate, while the other three sides gained at least a point. At the time of writing on Monday, April 15th, Leicester sit in 2nd place with 88 points, just one point behind league leaders Ipswich Town and they also have a game in hand over the Tractor Boys.
Leeds Are Falling Apart Again
Leeds United were many people’s pre-season favourites for promotion, as they also looked to make a swift return to the Premier League under Daniel Farke, a man who has previously guided Norwich City to the top flight on multiple occasions.
A slow start to the campaign would see Leeds only pick up one win from their opening five games, which included a disappointing 0-0 draw away at local rivals Sheffield Wednesday. Since then, however, Leeds have been one of the more consistent sides in the division, picking up 82 points in 38 games since their initial five fixtures.
This has led them to be one point behind Leicester and two points behind Ipswich as they now approach a crucial run-in that sees them face off against Middlesbrough, QPR and a huge clash with Southampton at Elland Road on the final day of the season. The Whites are in poor form coming into these games, though, without a win in their last three games.
Ipswich Town: Breaking The Mould
Ipswich Town fans must feel like they’re in dreamland as they look to win promotion to the top flight for the first time since the early 2000’s. Guided by the watchful eyes of Kieran Mckenna, The Tractor Boys are on the verge of back-to-back promotions following their League One success last season.
There may be a slight feeling around Portman Road though that they’re on the verge of throwing it all away, as they are also winless in their last three matches, including a sucker-punch defeat at Carrow Road to fierce rivals Norwich City. Despite all this, however, Ipswich remain at the top of the table with three games left to play against Hull City, Coventry City, and Huddersfield Town. Could Ipswich Town perform a miracle and break the mould by winning the Championship title at the end of the season?
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Hopeful Saints
Many had condemned Southampton to the play-offs just a few weeks ago as the top three looked to run away from them in the automatic promotion race. However, recent poor results for those three sides and an upturn in form for the Saints have left them in a position where they could still bounce back to the Premier League automatically.
Southampton have the unusual benefit this late in the season of having two games in hand on Leeds and Ipswich as well as one game in hand on Leicester City. Meaning that whilst they currently sit in 4th place, six points behind Leeds in 3rd, they could find themselves level on points with or even ahead of the Yorkshire side very soon. The Saints still have five games left to play this season against Preston, Cardiff, Leicester, Stoke, and the previously mentioned clash with Leeds on the final day.
These fixtures effectively mean promotion back to the top flight is in Southampton’s hands, as they have to face two of their direct rivals as well as play more games than them. You have to think that confidence amongst the squad will be high as well following back-to-back wins, including a last-gasp winner from Flynn Downes over Watford last time out.
Who Will Win the EFL Championship 23/24?
To conclude, this looks to be one of the most entertaining and intriguing Championship title races in recent memory, where half of the teams spoken about today have to wind up in the dreaded play-offs and could even meet each other in the final.
But who will actually want to go up? Championship 23/24 has been one of the most entertaining seasons to date.
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