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...
5. 8th. West Brom (57 points)
Remaining fixtures: Watford (H), Coventry (A), Derby (H), Cardiff (A), Luton (H) | Average position of opposition: 16.4 Photo: Getty Images
6. 7th. Middlesbrough (60 points)
Remaining fixtures: Millwall (A), Plymouth (H), Sheffield Wednesday (A), Norwich (H), Coventry (A) | Average position of opposition: 12.6 Photo: Owen Humphreys
7. 6th. Coventry (62 points)
Remaining fixtures: Hull (A), West Brom (H), Plymouth (A), Luton (A), Middlesbrough (H) | Average position of opposition: 16.2 | Getty Images
8. 5th. Bristol City (63 points)
Remaining fixtures: QPR (A), Sunderland (H), Luton Town (A), Leeds (A), Preston (H) | Average position of opposition: 11.8 | Getty Images