Leeds suffered their first Championship defeat since November as a 61st-minute goal from Colby Bishop gave Pompey a shock victory over them on 9 March, with Joel Piroe’s miss early on in the second half summing up their performance.
The defeat, coupled with the 1-1 draw against West Brom at Elland Road the previous Saturday (1 March), has allowed Sheffield United to go level with them on the table, while Burnley are just two points behind.
With only 10 games left to play, Daniel Farke and Co now face the serious prospect of missing out on automatic promotion and having to play playoffs.
Brazil raises Leeds promotion question on talkSPORT
Looking back at the game at Fratton Park, Brazil has admitted that he fears being proved wrong about Leeds after thinking they had done enough to secure automatic promotion.
Having seen Sheffield United and Burnley close the gap with the Elland Road outfit in recent days, the talkSPORT outfit reckons there is a serious chance that they “blow” their chances of going up.
“Last couple of Mondays, I thought Leeds had done enough”, Brazil said on talkSPORT (6:53 am, 10 March).
“There were difficult games on paper, they got through that and all of a sudden now, they’re in reverse.
“The closing pack, Burnley and Sheffield United, have raced back and are suddenly breathing down.
“They’re coming, they’re coming strong. So, can Leeds blow this?”
| Teams | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goal Difference | Points |
| 1. Leeds | 36 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 49 | 76 |
| 2. Sheffield United | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 76 |
| 3. Burnley | 36 | 20 | 14 | 2 | 39 | 74 |
Responding to Brazil’s question, Adrian Clarke admitted that Leeds may well bottle their chances of earning promotion despite being atop the Championship table as they are having a “wobble”.
“Yes, they can blow it”, Clarke said.
“I think they have been the best team this season and they probably are the strongest outfit, but they are having a wobble, no doubt about it.
“Got beat yesterday [Sunday; ed.] at Portsmouth, not an easy place to go, to be honest, and they have been absolutely flying at home, Pompey.
“But, they are wobbling, they drew at home in their last game as well.”
He also suggested that the West Yorkshire outfit may be in big trouble if they do not secure automatic promotion as have a poor record in playoffs.
“If Leeds do end up in the playoffs, psychologically, I just wonder what sort of place they will be in because they hate the playoffs”, the ex-Arsenal midfielder added.
“They don’t have a very good record in, didn’t show up in last year’s final, so they have to get top two Leeds, they have to.”
Farke determined to avoid deja vu
Leeds suffered promotion heartbreak when they lost 1-0 against Southampton in the playoff final last season.
There is no doubt that Farke and Co will be determined to avoid such a situation this time around.
Therefore, it is imperative that they secure a place in the top two of the Championship and avoid having to participate in the playoffs.
