How tight is the race to the Premier League?
Friday 17 April 2020 09:16, UK
This season's Championship promotion race looks as if it might go to the final weeks of the season, but how competitive is the current campaign?
Leaders Leeds and second-place Norwich have won only two games between them since Boxing Day, but no other side has capitalised on their poor form.
The result has been that the top six sides are now separated by just eight points heading into the final 18 fixtures of the season.
Current Sky Bet Championship table
The last time the Championship table was this tight after 28 games was in 2014-15 when the gap between leaders Bournemouth and Watford in sixth was only seven points. The Cherries went on to win the title but it was Watford who went on to clinch second with Derby dropping out of the top two and eventually finishing eighth.
2014/15 Championship table after 28 games, including final position (FP)
With three defeats in their last four games, Leeds are one of the most out-of-form teams in the Championship. They have lost six league games in total this season, the most by the leaders at this stage since Hull in 2015/16. In fact, West Ham, with seven defeats in 2011/12, are the only leaders to have lost more games at this stage of the season within the last 10 years.
One possible reason for the absence of a runaway leader is the number of drawn games so far this term. There have been 102 draws this season, meaning 30.4 per cent of games have finished all square, a higher than average figure when compared to the last 10 years.
Since 2008/09, the only season with a higher percentage of draws has been 2015/16 when 172 of the 552 fixtures ended even. Already this season, eight sides have drawn 10 or more Championship games with the main culprits being Aston Villa, Birmingham and Nottingham Forest (all 12).
Despite all the draws there has been no lack of entertainment with each Championship game averaging 2.68 goals. In only two of the previous 10 season has there been a better goals-per-game average in the second tier, the best being 2.74 goals per game in 2010/11.
If the draws continue and the goals keep flowing then the Championship could be set for yet another grandstand finish. With only four months to go until the season ends, and another 216 games to go, anything can happen. With a congested table there is still a chance for at least six, or even 10 teams, to fight for promotion.
