Ipswich Third-favourites for Championship Promotion Despite Taking Top Spot

Ipswich Third-favourites for Championship Promotion Despite Taking Top Spot

Bookmakers are still pricing up Ipswich Town behind Leeds United and Leicester City in the Championship promotion odds despite the Tractor Boys ascending to the summit over Easter.

Good Friday's 1-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers was followed by a thrilling 3-2 defeat of promotion hopefuls Southampton at Portman Road on Monday, moving Ipswich top by a point.

Kieran McKenna's side - now 4/6 to secure promotion to the Premier League - have won three in a row after Jeremy Sarmiento's goal at the death downed Southampton but Leicester are still 1/5 odds-on favourites for promotion in the eyes of the bookies.

Friday's 1-0 loss at Bristol City - Jamie Vardy missed a string of chances - was followed by a morale-boosting 3-1 victory at home to Norwich City. Vardy was on target in the comeback win. Leicester are third in the table, two points behind Ipswich, but have a game in hand to play. 

Leeds sit second after a dramatic 2-2 draw at Watford and a 3-1 home win over Hull City. Boss Daniel Farke has plenty of vital experience after his time at Norwich and the bookies have Leeds as 2/9 shots in the Championship promotion odds with six games to go.

It looks like a three-horse race for the two automatic slots after Southampton slipped 12 points behind Leeds in second, although the Saints do have two more games to play than the Whites. Attention might soon turn to the play-offs with Southampton drawing 1-1 with Middlesbrough and losing 3-2 at Ipswich over Easter. No clean sheets in six games demonstrates defensive issues.

Southampton fans could yet be given something to celebrate by star striker Adam Armstrong, whose 20 goals have him in the hunt for the Championship's top goalscorer prize. Bookies give Armstrong a 33/20 chance to finish as the most prolific scorer in the division.

Easter draws at Millwall and at home to Watford did not hurt West Brom's position in the table. They are secure in fifth, unbeaten in eight, and almost certain to enter the play-offs. 

Occupying the final play-off spot, Norwich are 8/13 to finish in the top six. The Canaries saw their run of three wins on the trot ended at Leicester but they have a four-point cushion.

Coventry City (7/2 to make the Championship play-offs) and Preston North End (12/1) both have a game in hand compared to Norwich but saw their hopes dented by Easter Monday losses. Preston went down 1-0 at Birmingham - they have taken just seven points from five games - while Coventry's run of three wins was ended by a damaging 2-1 defeat at home to Cardiff.

Hull's awful Easter - they lost 2-0 at home to Stoke and 3-1 at Leeds - means the Tigers are without a win in six league games. However, they are only six points behind Norwich and have a game in hand, with odds of 9/1 on a top-six finish offered.