Leeds United likened to Liverpool after 'phenomenal run' but face play-off lottery

Leeds United are preparing for an anxious wait over their Championship promotion fate.

Daniel Farke's side have won a whopping 27 games so far this season and know one more victory on home soil could still prove to be not enough in their quest for promotion to the Premier League.

Following Ipswich Town's midweek success against Coventry City, Kieran McKenna's side are firmly in the driving seat heading into this weekend's final round of fixtures. The Tractor Boys need just a point to end their 22-year wait for top-flight football, with Leeds hoping local rivals Huddersfield Town can do them a job and spoil the party.

READ MORE: I can't see relentless Ipswich Town faltering and letting Leeds United back into top-two hunt

READ MORE: Leicester City squad taunts Leeds United after promotion collapse in end-of-season awards evening

For some, it is worth remembering how far United have come following their below-par start to the season. An 18-game Championship run hoisted Leeds back into promotion territory at the start of 2024 and a former player at Elland Road believes their fate looks likely to be resolved via the play-offs.

“It is going to be very difficult for Leeds to get promoted this season following their poor run of form," Stephen Warnock recently told NewBettingOffers.co.uk. "I think they have to try and change their mindset as quickly as possible and get away from the worries of potentially being in the playoffs.

"They could still go up automatically but it will be very difficult now. They’ve been on a similar trajectory to Liverpool’s in the Premier League in that they were on a phenomenal run, being the in-form team in their respective league in 2024.

"For a period, they seemed invincible. Then doubts suddenly started to creep in after their draw against Watford where they would’ve been thinking, ‘Where did that come from? So often we’ve seen teams in the Championship make late runs to get into the play-offs and then go on to win promotion.

"The same thing could now happen to Leeds, where another team comes and snatches promotion away from them. Leeds have a lot of good players and if they can mentally prepare for the playoffs then not many teams will want to face them.

"They’ve had a lot of injuries as of late and if they can get a bit of a break and get a few players back to their best before the play-offs, then you’d hope that they can come up.”