Leeds United’s fate to secure automatic promotion and develop a significant lead is in their own hands, with a crucial competitor powerless to stop them.
Daniel Farke‘s Whites wasted a golden opportunity to return to the Championship’s top two on Saturday, losing 1-0 at home to Blackburn Rovers, leaving Leeds third, one point behind second-placed Leicester City and two points behind new leaders Ipswich Town. Leicester also has four games remaining, compared to Leeds and Ipswich’s three.
Leeds, on the other hand, now have the opportunity to reclaim the automatic slots above Ipswich as well as open up a four-point gap over the Tractor Boys thanks to a twist in the upcoming fixture schedule. One of Ipswich’s three remaining games is away at FA Cup semi-finalists Coventry City, whose involvement in the cup competition has resulted in the Championship encounter between the Sky Blues and Tractor Boys being postponed until Tuesday, April 30 from its original date of next weekend.
It means Kieran McKenna‘s team will now go 13 days without a game, with Ipswich not playing again until Saturday, April 27 at 8 p.m. against Hull City. By then, Leeds will have played twice, giving them the opportunity to move up to 93 points and four points ahead of Ipswich, who have two games in hand.
The first of those two games in hand would be played away at Hull, followed by a trip to Coventry three days later on Tuesday night. However, if United fails to capture six points from those two games, they will technically regain control of their top-two destiny if Farke’s Whites win their next two games.
The first of these will be away to Middlesbrough on Monday night, and a win will almost certainly put Leeds back in the automatic promotion spots due to Ipswich’s weekend off. Another victory against Friday night’s hosts Queens Park Rangers may put Leeds four points ahead of Leicester in the standings, regardless of how Leicester performs in their next game.
Enzo Maresca‘s Foxes welcome West Brom in a midday kick-off next Saturday before facing Southampton at home on Tuesday night. Leicester then play after Leeds and Ipswich the following weekend, with a Monday night match against Preston North End, the night before Ipswich travel to Coventry.
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