Who will step up?

Hello, and a very good morning/afternoon/evening to you all, and - after Portsmouth, Stockport County, Wrexham and Mansfield Town have already secured EFL promotions (Pompey and County as champions) - the eyes of the footballing world turn to the Sky Bet Championship, which is proving to be back to its ridiculously dramatic best this year.

Leicester City (and the whole division) thought that the title was wrapped up by Christmas, but a Foxes falloff has allowed Leeds United and Ipswich Town the opportunity to seize the advantage.

However, both of them are now stumbling and it may well be Southampton who sensationally nick an automatic spot!

Let’s dive deeper shall we…

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Why they will go up:

Why not! Kieran McKenna has reinvigorated what was a tired, toxic football club sitting mid-table in League One into a real force that could be in the Premier League next season with just three Tractor Boys outings left!

They are one of the most organised and bright teams to watch in the division, led by arguably Britain’s best up and coming coach, and have caused teams havoc in their interchanging 4-2-3-1 shape.

There’s also the chance of Ed Sheeran sponsoring a Premier League team next season if they go up, which just sounds perfect!

Recently though, their form has faded like graffiti on the overpass. No wins in their last three - including a 1-0 Old Farm defeat to Norwich at Carrow Road - has put a serious dampener on Town fans thinking out loud about promotion!

Inexperience could also be key, their starting eleven for their 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough last week contained only three 28 + year olds - and with a manager in his first senior job - could their dreams shatter against experience?

Realistically, every football fan would like to see Ipswich in the Premier League and - given that they are currently top - you would make them favourites to reach the promised land.

However, they don’t play this weekend due to their opponents Coventry City being at Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final, so that could put them out of the top two with Southampton only a point behind.

Arguably, they have the best squad in the division! It’s a team that should be romping home to the title on paper; however, football is not played on paper and the Foxes are proof of that!

They HAVE seen some key figures step up this year, most notably Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who was incredibly unlucky to lose out to Leeds’ Crysencio Summerville for the Championship Player of the Season at the EFL Awards last week.

Because they already have! Since beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 on the 13th of February, they have suffered seven defeats out of eleven, winning only two (I’m hearing Jamie Vardy’s Valentine’s Night is not the reason for the drop in form!)

They lack a Plan B, this was exemplified by last Friday’s damaging 1-0 defeat at essentially managerless Plymouth, and they don’t seem to have a clue, when Dewsbury-Hall isn’t on the ball, at how to break teams down.

Maresca always seems upbeat when he does interviews - though the smirk will be wiped off of the Italian’s face if Leicester don’t go up.

There is, of course, the elephant in the room of the FFP charges and points deduction that looms large should they get promoted.

92 Focus Verdict: The phrase ‘too good to go down’ was thrown at Leicester a lost last season, and this year they are most definitely ‘too good to not go up.’

Perhaps a more experienced squad than most of the others may help, though with recent results, the Foxes are certainly running away from the prize.

They have a Championship specialist! Daniel Farke has won this division twice with Norwich and he has helped to build a great side at Elland Road that are perhaps ahead of schedule, after being relegated last season.

The Whites also boast the EFL Championship Player of the Season - Crysencio Summerville - and Young Player of the Season - Archie Gray - in a very talented squad that has also seen record signing Georginio Rutter finally step up.

It’s certainly not Leicester-esque, but - after starting 2024 in ridiculously impressive form - they have dropped off a little recently.

Their last five games after the international break have only yielded one win, including a shock reverse to relegation battlers Blackburn at the weekend.

That isn’t as much of a worry as it perhaps might be for the Foxes however, as they were, in some cases, unlucky to not score against Rovers and were frustrated by Sunderland previously.

Leeds have got real recent PL pedigree, and also a manager that knows what it takes to get out of this division.

For that reason, - despite their recent stutters - I’m backing a Farke three-peat!

Recent form is on their side! Just one defeat in their last five - including wins in their last three - has led to Russell Martin’s Saints seriously joining the automatic promotion chat.

A quirky statistic could also be indicative here (not that it should have any bearings on their challenge!)

That quirky stat is that Southampton have only been in the same league as arch-rivals Portsmouth ONCE in the last 19 years!

And with Pompey having secured promotion, will Saints dodge an eagerly-awaited Championship South Coast derby?

Aside from this good recent run of form, they really are only in the mix due to others dropping points!

But, they do have a game in hand on both Leeds and Ipswich, and are only three points behind the Whites!

And it is very much still in their own hands as they still have to go to the King Power, as well as travelling to Elland Road on the FINAL DAY of the regular season!

The Saints are marching so close to the automatics, whilst others are limping!

However, matches against their title rivals haven’t really gone to plan this season, so Martin will need to sort that record out.

If they win their final four, they’re up; however, I don’t think that’ll happen!

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