Sheffield United lost ground in the Championship promotion race following Monday’s 3-1 defeat to Leeds United, but things still look promising. Chris Wilder’s side were excellent for large parts at Bramall Lane before falling to three quickfire second-half goals from Junior Firpo, Ao Tanaka and Joel Piroe.
Defeat leaves United five points short of Leeds but, more importantly for many, there is still a two-point cushion on Burnley in third, with automatic promotion the main goal. Wilder’s men have made a habit of bouncing back from defeat and there is still hope of a strong run-in.
With two games against each of Leeds and Sunderland out the way, there is hope United’s schedule might ease up a little - but is that actually true? Well, The Star has assessed the final 12 game run-in for all of the Championship’s top 10, working out the average position of each team’s opposition to determine who really has the best run-in - take a look below to see how it looks...
1. 12th. Blackburn Rovers (53 points)
Remaining fixtures: Luton (A), Millwall (H), Sunderland (A), Watford (H), Sheffield United (A) | Average position of opposition: 9.8 Photo: Matt McNulty
2. 11th. Norwich City (53 points)
Remaining fixtures: Burnley (A), Portsmouth (H), Millwall (A), Middlesbrough (A), Cardiff (H) | Average position of opposition: 11.4 Photo: Stephen Pond
3. 10th. Watford (56 points)
Remaining fixtures: West Brom (A), Burnley (H), Portsmouth (A), Blackburn (A), Sheffield Wednesday (H) | Average position of opposition: 10.4 Photo: Cameron Howard/Getty Images
4. 9th. Millwall (57 points)
Remaining fixtures: Middlesbrough (H), Blackburn (A), Norwich City (H), Swansea City (H), Burnley (A) | Average position of opposition: 9.2 Photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images