Johnny Phillips: Race for a Premier place will throw up more twists
Just as the Premier League title race appears to be heading for a more predictable conclusion than many thought this time last week, by contrast the Championship automatic promotion chase has been blown wide open.
Four teams are now in the hunt for just two automatic spots. Unquestionably, all four teams are a notch above anything else in the division, so the idea that one or more of them may miss out altogether adds real jeopardy to the battle at the top.
Last season’s relegated Premier League clubs Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton attempting to bounce straight back at the first time of asking.
Yet, the hugely impressive Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town are currently top of this four-way fight.
At the beginning of 2024 it was Enzo Maresca’s Leicester who looked nailed on certainties to go straight back up to the Premier League, topping the Championship table with a 13-point gap over third-place Southampton.
There have been some tough times since then and defensively the Foxes have looked vulnerable while up top the goals have dried up.
On Tuesday night I was at Southampton’s comfortable win over Preston North End. It was a night of free-flowing football for the home side at St Mary’s Stadium, with Che Adams the vocal point of an attack that dominated throughout.
