Latest Championship Odds: Leeds Falter as Title Race Excites

How many times can the brilliance of the Championship be highlighted? Once again, a spanner has been thrown into the works, following Leeds' unexpected defeat against Portsmouth. Let's just dive in.

Leeds Stumble Under Little Pressure

I'm quite firmly under the belief that the title race will now be a three-team game until the end of the season, even more so than I was in previous weeks. A range of mistakes and quality have made the season interesting and this weekend was the same.

The final game of the weekend was Leeds United's trip to Portsmouth, and Pompey managed to get three points from nothing due to a sloppy goal. This result proves the Whites are maybe not as solid as they may have seemed, which is fantastic for a neutral.

Throughout this season, few teams have challenged the Peacocks in terms of quality, but they have been their own worst enemy on quite a few occasions, with this weekend being the latest instance.

Following them, winning again this weekend, is Sheffield United. Hosting Preston North End should be a walk in the park for any credible automatic promotion challenger, and the Blades didn't make it easy, but got the job done.

In many ways, it feels like a very typical Chris Wilder win, an honest, hard-working 1-0 at home, which his side have grinded out for. Considering the Leeds result, it is a huge three points, and Wilder will be absolutely ecstatic with the ground as it lies, as his side now sit level with the leaders.

You cannot count Burnley out though, who are only two points behind the top two. Despite being regularly questioned, even by me before the season began and regularly in the early stages, they have picked up results consistently.

Scott Parker's side may not have the attractiveness of Vincent Kompany's from a few years back, but they still have the quality, and this is all that matters.

We're certainly in for a good ending to the season at the top of the division, that much is for sure.

Play-Off Race Shortens Slightly

I said it last time, I'll say it now, and I'll say it again, picking three other teams to end in the play-offs is a near-impossible job, and I'm not finding it fun to try and pick holes in teams, or strengthen teams in this race.

However, I'm going to contradict myself immediately. Sunderland sit behind that trio, and the only reason they are not still competing is due to their drop in recent weeks, which has killed off their chances of the title - if there were any.

Nevertheless, they are still picking up results on a semi-consistent basis, and the win against Cardiff City, whilst not the most confidence-bringing result ever, is still a sign that they can grind out difficult games.

I'm again about to reinforce how good Coventry have been since Frank Lampard's appointment. I keep saying it, but I put the Sky Blues forward at 6/1 a while back, and this looks to be a superb shout if I can say so myself.

No other team has picked up more points in 2025 in the Championship, which is telling about the job that Lampard is doing, and the win against Stoke City, despite being dramatic, shows how together that squad is. A real solid position indeed.

Finally, we have West Brom, who have certainly been an intriguing case as of late, I must admit. The Baggies have managed to continue on the same kind of path since Carlos Corberan's exit, which I did not expect, so Tony Mowbray deserves substantial credit.

Beating a QPR side who have been regularly praised this season is a huge achievement, and though not the most convincing result, it is still a big win for a team that has regularly been overlooked.

Bristol City also kept on their path at the weekend, despite the fact that they could not beat Hull. I'm still quite optimistic about their chances considering West Brom's inconsistencies, but a gap could form really quickly.

To summarise, the Championship is absolutely brilliant when it comes to the play-offs.

Derby Not Dead Yet But Are Others?

Things are still quite tight at the bottom of the division, albeit certainly not as exciting as they are at the top. However, that does not mean we won't be seeing any drama, so let's take a look.

Plymouth Argyle returned to the bottom of the league at the weekend after Sheffield Wednesday put three past the Pilgrims. It is a real bring-back-down-to-earth moment, considering where Wednesday were last season, and if Argyle do not quickly hit a spell of form again, then things will start to look very bleak very quickly again.

It was, in some ways, similar for Luton Town this weekend as the Hatters weren't able to pick up a second positive result in a row. Losing so humiliatingly to Burnley, who they went up with and came down with, is a real statement of how far the club have fallen, and it would not be a surprise if their struggles extended past this season if things do not improve within the next month. That is a conversation for next season though...

Then, we have Derby County, and we can finally say that John Eustace has his first win as the club's head coach. I must admit, it is quite a funny way for it to come around. Beating his former club, where he got heaps of stick for leaving, and denting their play-off hopes in the meantime, a really quite hilarious situation.

For the Rams, they will only care about the result for their future, and it has definitely strengthened their chances of staying in the league, though I'm not sure how much by.

I say it every week, but again I'm worried about the positions of Stoke City and Cardiff City, both have struggled to put together any consistency this season, and despite both seemingly earning draws this weekend, both threw it away late on.