Alan Smith, a former Manchester United and Leeds United player, has predicted that his old club and Burnley will be promoted to the Premier League automatically, as the competition for the top two heats up.
The Whites were held to a 1-1 draw by West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon, while the Clarets are out of action until Tuesday evening after losing in the FA Cup fifth round to Preston North End at Deepdale over the weekend.
Scott Parker’s team will now focus solely on the race for promotion, but they will need to overcome Sheffield United’s five-point lead following their 2-1 success over QPR.
It means that the top three are separated by just eight points, with Burnley preparing to go to Cardiff City to help cut the gap on Leeds and the Blades.
Alan Smith removes his prediction for Championship promotion.
The race for automatic promotion has been quite close throughout the season, and until the past few weeks, Sunderland had a very good chance of finishing in the top two.
However, back-to-back defeats saw the Black Cats fall behind the leaders, resulting in a three-way shootout. Daniel Farke’s club has been amazing in recent months, going unbeaten in the league since the beginning of December.
However, with Burnley’s defensive strength, they could be the ones to watch in the coming weeks, and Smith, a former Leeds and Manchester United player, feels they can overtake Sheffield United for second place.
Wille P spoke exclusively to Football League World via Goplay about the race for promotion to the Premier League, saying: “I think Leeds have put themselves in a great position, especially with an eight-point lead over Burnley in third.
“It’s tricky because, as with Leeds last year, one of those two teams will be disappointed that they did not advance. I believe Leeds will be one, and I have a sneaking suspicion Burnley will be the other, simply because they are so solid defensively, with 12 clean sheets in a straight.
Smith reached the following conclusion: “Scotty [Parker] is obviously defensively minded, and if you can get to the halfway point and beyond keeping clean sheets, you know that you’re defensively strong and can give yourself the impetus to go and score goals like they did against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night when they went and scored four.”
Leeds’ lead over Burnley gives them a major edge.
Despite their draw with West Brom, Leeds continue to have all of the cards in the promotion race, and they appear to be the most likely to win the league title at the moment.
Farke has led his club to 12 wins in their previous 17 Championship games, drawing the other five, and it is this consistency that has helped them seize control since the turn of the year.
| Leeds United’s record since 07/12/2024 (TransferMarkt)* | |
|---|---|
| Matches | 17 |
| Wins | 12 |
| Draws | 5 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Goals scored | 41 |
| Goals conceded | 9 |
| Points | 41 |
| *Stats correct as of 03/03/2025 | |
They have remained at the top of the table since defeating Stoke City on Boxing Day, and wins against Sheffield United and Sunderland in recent weeks have seen them steal points from opponents in the final stages of games.
Burnley may just have enough to pip the Blades to second, but all eyes will be on the two when they meet at the end of April, a match that looks likely to define the promotion race.
