Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Leeds United, Burnley, and Sheffield United are the three sides vying for automatic promotion from the Championship this season, which must be whittled down to two in the next five weeks of the season.
The race to gain promotion from the Championship took further twists again this weekend when Leeds dropped points to QPR, while both the Blades and the Clarets claimed victory against Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City respectively to apply pressure at the top.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 38 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 76 | 25 | 51 | 80 |
| 2 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 53 | 28 | 25 | 80 |
| 3 |  BurnleyBurnley | 38 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 52 | 11 | 41 | 78 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 38 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 55 | 37 | 18 | 69 |
The Championship automatic promotion race includes a Leeds side who have been embroiled in their second four-way tussle at the top of the division for much of it prior to Sunderland slowly sliding away. Unsurprisingly it’s been these four, given the talent on display at each Championship team in the mix.
Now, with the international break upon us, Leeds and Sheffield United are set for just shy of 100 points based on their current points per game (PPG) rate, which would be among the highest points totals ever if they are able to navigate the automatic promotion race run-in.
EFL expert makes James Trafford and Michael Cooper claim for Leeds United
Leeds may have blown more teams away this season than their competitors, but both Burnley and Chris Wilder’s Blades have been outstanding at grinding games out and keeping themselves in low-scoring affairs.
That is reflected in the quality of their goalkeepers in big moments, which Not The Top 20’s George Elek believes is vital. He spoke via The Guardian Football Weekly podcast’s EFL special to explain his thoughts on the situation regarding future England internationals from the Championship.
He said: “In my mind, the reason why, frankly, this promotion battle is so tight, and it seems quite basic, but a lot of it is to do with the goalkeepers.
“In Mike Cooper and James Trafford, Sheffield United and Burnley have the two best ‘keepers in the league, along with Viktor Johansson at Stoke.
“Trafford is in the England squad, and there is a fair chance that he will have the opportunity to stake his claim as number one in the next couple of weeks, despite being a Championship player.
“And Cooper is a Premier League ‘keeper in waiting. Whereas Ilan Meslier has made a number of high-profile mistakes.
“In my mind, if you put Cooper or Trafford in goal for Leeds over the course of the season, and put Meslier in goal for the other ones, there would be a ten-point gap between them.
“It’s that stark. It’s easy after a run of four games and one win to look for holes in Leeds. But when you consider their amazing run prior to that, and I think their proficiency from set-pieces is one of their massive strengths really.
“I’d be really surprised if we see Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again.”
What the data suggests about the race for automatic promotion from the Championship
The run-in has Leeds’ games as the easiest remaining fixtures they know they must avoid the play-offs, given Leeds’ record at Wembley. However, it’s clear to see in the data alone what kind of impact the goalkeepers are having on each side, given Leeds’ dominance in a number of metrics.
| Key stats | Leeds United | Sheffield United | Burnley |
| Goals | 76 (1st) | 53 (6th) | 52 (8th) |
| Goals against | 25 (2nd) | 28 (3rd) | 11 (1st) |
| xG for | 71.7 (1st) | 50.4 (8th) | 44.4 (14th) |
| xG against | 24.6 (1st) | 38.6 (3rd) | 29.9 (2nd) |
| Clean sheets | 21 (2nd) | 20 (3rd) | 27 (1st) |
| Possession average | 61.6% (1st) | 50.2 (9th) | 56.6% (4th) |
Opta are giving Leeds a 61.76% chance of the title, with Sheffield United (22.28%) and Burnley (15.96%). The Whites have an 89.74% chance of automatic promotion of any kind; meanwhile Burnley (49.40%) and Sheffield United (60.76%).
Burnley’s ‘best’ form of the season is not reflected in that, given that the Clarets are breaking records currently. However, they arguably have the most difficult fixtures at the end of the campaign, which includes a game against Chris Wilder’s side — and is a game which suits Leeds incredibly well.
They have to hope there is enough leadership in Leeds’ ranks, and that there are no more ‘high-profile’ Meslier mistakes to come between now and the end of the season. But, such has been their dominance, that it may not matter anyway come May.