Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
There are a number of outstanding players playing in the Championship right now, particularly at the top sides such as Leeds United, Burnley, and Sheffield United.
The end of season run-in is upon us and there remains plenty to be decided still, but the top two looks like it could be wrapped up before the final game of the season, unless Sheffield United claim victory at Turf Moor on Monday.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 42 | 25 | 13 | 4 | 82 | 29 | 53 | 88 |
| 2 |  BurnleyBurnley | 42 | 24 | 16 | 2 | 57 | 13 | 44 | 88 |
| 3 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 42 | 26 | 7 | 9 | 57 | 33 | 24 | 83 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 57 | 38 | 19 | 76 |
| 5 |  Bristol CityBristol City | 42 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 54 | 45 | 9 | 64 |
| 6 |  CoventryCoventry | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 59 | 54 | 5 | 63 |
Leeds United, Sheffield United, and Burnley have pulled away at the top of the league, partly due to the quality in their Championship squads. Numerous players that are currently lighting up the Championship and many come via those three clubs.
Another aspect that remains to be decided is the Championship Player of the Year award, which has seen Dan James, Gus Hamer, and James Trafford all nominated from the top three sides.
Ao Tanaka has been robbed of a Player of the Season nomination
Dan James has been one of Leeds’ best performers this term, and he is certain to be included in the Team of the Year. His Leeds teammates Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle, Junior Firpo, Manor Solomon, and Ao Tanaka are all likely to be in contention for the same team.
That is the strength of Leeds this term, with numerous players impressing. There have been numerous standouts, but the latter has been overlooked for the Championship’s most prestigious award. The Japanese international cost approximately £3 million, per The Athletic, and he has been the heartbeat of this Leeds team.
Tanaka becoming the main man has become quite a common occurrence for Leeds this season. Despite James’ quality, a claim could be made that he has been their best player this season, and that Tanaka has been one of the primary contenders for the Man of the Match award in the vast majority of his league starts.
James has the joint-most goal involvements in the league with 21 (12G, 9A), but he has had some poor spells this term, which is not anywhere near as true of Tanaka. Surely an award like this is based on consistency of performance more than anything?
That word epitomises Tanaka. James, on the other hand, contributed to just one in his first six league outings and went four games without an involvement recently during their poor run. His importance is still absolutely without question, but a car can’t run without an engine.
It’s clear that Tanaka is not just another cog in the Leeds machine; he quickly became the engine that keeps it running. With one pundit even claiming Tanaka is one of the best Championship signings made by any club for some time alongside Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor, it’s clear he has been overlooked.
As per a report by Leeds Live in November, Farke explained: “He is technically so outstanding he has to fix the watches of the referees. Tiger Tanaka can do everything. He is an unbelievable signing so far.
“Quality with and without the ball is outstanding. Not played in a top league yet. Delivers like this in a shirt so heavy is outstanding. Character is relaxed and laid back.”
Fans think Tanaka should be the Championship Player of the Season, but Leeds are already backing the midfielder to improve even more. An EFL Analysis exclusive revealed that Tanaka is seen as a Premier League player for Leeds.
Who should win the 2025 Championship Player of the Season?
The Championship Player of the season award first came into existence back in 2006 when it was won by Phil Jagielka. Every winner of the prestigious award can be seen below:
- 2006: Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United)
- 2007: Jason Koumas (West Brom)
- 2008: Kevin Phillips (West Brom)
- 2009: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolves)
- 2010: Kevin Nolan (Newcastle United)
- 2011: Adel Taarabt (QPR)
- 2012: Rickie Lambert (Southampton)
- 2013: Matej Vydra (Watford)
- 2014: Danny Ings (Burnley)
- 2015: Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough)
- 2016: Andre Gray (Burnley)
- 2017: Anthony Knockaert (Brighton)
- 2018: Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)
- 2019: Teemu Pukki (Norwich)
- 2020: Ollie Watkins (Brentford)
- 2021: Emiliano Buendía (Norwich)
- 2022: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
- 2023: Chuba Akpom (Middlesbrough)
- 2024: Crysencio Summerville (Leeds United)
Of course, each of the nominees this year are worthy winners in their own right, but the number of omissions that could have made the cut is sizeable compared to last term.
James has been outstanding, even if we feel Tanaka was and is more deserving as the true controlling influence and heartbeat of the team. Hamer has perhaps not hit the heights of others, leaving James Trafford as the most obvious.
He will play for England and no player has a higher average FotMob rating, while Trafford has the most clean sheets and the highest save percentage in the division, as well as by far the best goals prevented figure with 12.4 — per FotMob. The stats and eye test suggest it should be the Burnley stopper.