Exciting promotion push: How is the top of the championship shaping up?

Clockwise from top left: Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, Leeds forward Wilfried Gnonto and Ipswich’s Kieffer Moore.Composite: Getty Images; Action Images; PA Images

Leicester City: 36th place 81st place

Leicester sit three points clear at the top with 10 games to go, but three defeats in their last four games have emboldened their rivals and what has long looked like a rite of passage is no different.

The promotion, with its financial repercussions, is vital given the bleak financial outlook. Leicester are at serious risk of breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability rules for the 2023-24 season and there are concerns they could fall foul of the Premier League’s financial rules in their accounts covering the three-year period before they were relegated last May. It is unlikely that any sanctions will come into force during this period, but a new round of player sales will likely be required; Homegrown midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is their most valuable asset after a fine season.

Jamie Vardy, who is among the highest-paid players out of contract this summer, has chosen a good time to rediscover his form; The 37-year-old has scored six goals in his last seven matches. Jannik Vestergaard, whose contract will expire in June, is at the center of the championship fight. Enzo Maresca’s possession-hungry side have won more games than any other team in the league but have struggled to beat teams at times. How did they manage to cross the line?

Ipswich Town, P36 Points78

At the start of the season, Ipswich insiders were quietly hoping for a top-half finish, but the club could start the next phase in the top flight; This was a stage they had not reached since 2002. Despite how stylishly Kieran McKenna’s side managed to gain promotion last season. – They scored 101 goals and collected 98 points for second place – it is remarkable that they have only lost four league games, two of which were against the Leeds team in a breathless manner.

Ipswich have been captivated by McKenna since the former Manchester United coach took the reins at the club’s mid-table side in League One less than two-and-a-half years ago, with the 37-year-old injecting a tiger-like attitude into his squad; They scored eight goals in the 89th minute or later; this included Leif Davis’s winner against Bristol City in midweek to secure a sixth consecutive league win. “When we see 90 minutes [on the clock]Omari Hutchinson, Ipswich’s loanee from Chelsea, recently said:

The story continues

Davis, who had a league-high 14 assists, performed outstandingly at left-back, while Wes Burns played on the right and captain Sam Morsy played selflessly in midfield. Mick McCarthy’s February deadline loan deal for Kieffer Moore, whom he first brought to the club for £10,000 in 2017, was an inspiration; The striker scored five goals in five weeks. Ipswich, which was bought in 2021 by American investment fund Gamechanger 20 Ltd, led by a Los Angeles-based businessman, is about to hit the jackpot and could be much further ahead than planned.

Leeds United, 36.Pun76

It probably didn’t feel like it amid the clouds of uncertainty, but on the eve of the season, following the takeover and with a new manager in Daniel Farke, Leeds were trying to put the pieces in place to give them a chance of returning to the Premier League. on the first try. Wilfried Gnonto failed to get his wish after requesting a transfer and seven months later he is at the center of Leeds’ promotion push, while the likes of Tyler Adams, Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra remain distant memories.

In Crysencio Summerville and Archie Gray, Leeds boast two outstanding candidates to take home the EFL player and young player of the season awards next month. The emergence of Gray, who turns 18 next week and is the great-nephew of legendary Leeds winger Eddie Gray, is one of the stories of the season. Georginio Rutter failed to score last season after arriving from Hoffenheim for £36 million, but has signed this season.

Leicester’s strength in depth has been praised, but Leeds have slowly built a squad that can rival theirs in terms of quality. In January, full-back Connor Roberts, promoted from champions Burnley last season, became the third player to join Wales this season and the fourth player in the squad. One of them, Ethan Ampadu, the captain of the last months, missed two minutes of the season. “It’s not about passports, it’s all about character,” Farke said.

Southampton, Pl35 70 points

It was a sign of things to come when Southampton started the season with a late 2-1 win over Sheffield at Hillsborough on Friday evening. It has been a roller-coaster ride for Russell Martin’s Saints, who lost four games on the spin in September by a combined score of 12-2 before embarking on a remarkable, record-breaking 25-game unbeaten run.

They have lost three of their last five league games since then and needed a 96th-minute winner to beat Birmingham in a mixed 4-3 win last weekend in which Adam Armstrong scored his first goal. Only Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics, with his prolific form at Blackburn, has scored more league goals in 2021 than Armstrong, who moved to Southampton this season.

Will Smallbone has had a breakthrough year in midfield after spending the last spell on loan at Stoke with Kyle Walker-Peters and Che Adams showing his class. Former Norwich defender Martin said recently: “I still know a lot of players in this league and they talk to me after games and say ‘Kyle Walker-Peters: wow’.” “He was a great player for us”

Saints, who have a game in hand with their rivals, face a congested schedule after Wednesday’s home game against Preston was postponed due to a fire next door to St Mary’s and if they are to claim the top two places then they will have to do so. do it the hard way. They have to visit Leicester, Ipswich and Leeds on the potentially season-defining final day.