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...
9. 4th. Sunderland (76 points)
Remaining fixtures: Swansea (H), Bristol City (A), Blackburn (A), Oxford (A), QPR (H) | Average position of opposition: 12.8 Photo: Stu Forster
10. 3rd. Sheffield United (83 points)
Remaining fixtures: Plymouth (A), Cardiff (H), Burnley (A), Stoke (A), Blackburn (H) | Average position of opposition: 16 | Getty Images
11. 2nd. Burnley (85 points)
Remaining fixtures: Norwich (H), Watford (A), Sheffield United (H), QPR (A), Millwall (H) | Average position of opposition: 9.6 Photo: Molly Darlington
12. 1st. Leeds United (85 points)
Remaining fixtures: Preston (H), Oxford (A), Stoke (H), Bristol City (H), Plymouth (A) | Average position of opposition: 16.6 | Danny Lawson/PA Wire