Chris Wilder’s past Leeds United claim still makes no sense as Sheffield United aim for top spot in the Championship

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As far as Championship fixtures go, tonight’s clash between Sheffield United and Leeds United is a genuine six-pointer in the title race.

We are approaching the business end of the season now, and the four-horse race for automatic promotion looks to have lost a rider as Sunderland fell to defeat against Hull City this weekend.

Sheffield United are just two points behind league leaders Leeds United going into Monday’s meeting, while Burnley are still two points adrift in third having played one game more than the teams above.

Most neutrals suspect Leeds are guaranteed promotion now, which is actually something Chris Wilder suspected way back in December.

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Chris Wilder thought Leeds were ‘miles ahead’ of Sheffield United

We know Wilder loves to play mind games with his opponents. So much so, that he still comments on his rivals when his United team aren’t even preparing to face them.

In December, after seeing the Blades move into top spot ahead of Leeds with a 2-2 draw over West Brom, Wilder told the Yorkshire Evening Post that he believed the Whites were nailed on for the title.

“These boys are learning on the job, at the top of the division,” he said. “I’ve just been asked a question about being in contention with Leeds United – Leeds are miles ahead of us.”

Leeds boss, Daniel Farke, responded to that claim, saying, “We take it as a compliment. We are delivering really good performances. We are miles off being labelled a Premier League side, there is no doubt about this.

“I wouldn’t say we’re miles ahead of Burnley or Sheffield United, who were in the Premier League last season.”

It’s fascinating that Wilder made that suggestion when his team were at the top of the Championship table. It’s even more interesting now that we are two months down the line and the Blades are still within one win of overtaking Leeds.

Clearly, the gap between the two teams is not as big as Wilder thinks. Or, he wanted to unnerve Leeds by putting that pressure on them. We suspect the latter is more likely to be true.

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Is the top two in the Championship already decided?

The result of tonight’s game is massive, not just for Leeds and Sheffield United, but for Burnley, too.

One would suspect that, if Leeds can get the win and move five points clear, they will be almost certain of getting one of the top two spots and would appear to be on course to win the title. They’d also have a great shot at achieving one of the highest points tallies in Championship history, too.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	33	21	9	3	68	20	48	72
2	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	33	22	6	5	47	23	24	70
3	BurnleyBurnley	34	18	14	2	43	9	34	68
4	SunderlandSunderland	34	17	11	6	50	31	19	62

Defeat would really leave the Blades vulnerable to Burnley usurping them in second place. We also know Sheffield United are desperate to avoid the play-offs, largely because they have never gained promotion via that route in their history.

Burnley are relentless this season, too, though, and we are seemingly heading for a situation where three teams who genuinely deserve promotion are having to squeeze into two spots. And, it’s often the case that the third team that misses out on automatic promotion usually fails in the play-offs, too.

It’s an enthralling promotion race, and it’s by no means over yet. We will know a lot more after the Sheffield United and Leeds match tonight, but even then, this is definitely not a foregone conclusion.