2nd: Leeds United (90 pts, +43)

3rd: Ipswich Town (89 pts, +32)

4th: Southampton (84 pts, +24)

TOP FOUR’S FINAL FIXTURES

Leicester City: Preston (a), Blackburn (h)

Leeds United: QPR (a), Southampton (h)

Ipswich Town: Hull City (a), Coventry (a), Huddersfield (h)

Southampton: Stoke City (h), Leeds (a)

Those who had hoped for some fresh faces in the Premier League next season are likely to be sorely disappointed as Leicester City, Leeds and Southampton are firmly in contention for an immediate return.

The top two clubs were relegated from the top flight at the end of the 2022/23 season but thanks to parachute payments and significantly stronger playing squads, they’ve successfully flexed their muscles in the Championship.

With Enzo Maresca at the helm, Leicester have adopted a possession-heavy approach and it’s certainly paid off, scoring the most goals (86) and conceding the second-fewest amount (39) in the league.

Central to this new style of play has been star midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who has racked up 14 assists and constantly delivers all-action displays in the Foxes’ engine room.

Leicester all-but sealed automatic promotion with a 5-0 thrashing of Southampton on Wednesday morning, moving ten points clear of the fourth-placed side.

Sadly, Socceroos star Harry Souttar remains in exile and was not even on the bench for that match, as Abdul Fatawu scored a hat-trick and popular veteran Jamie Vardy also got on the scoresheet.

Leeds made the shrewd appointment of former Norwich City boss Daniel Farke in July and after a slow start in which the club won three of its first eight games have gone on to surge up the ladder.

Firing Leeds to a Premier League return is Crysencio Summerville, with the Dutch forward bagging 19 goals and nine assists to date.

Leeds will hope they get promoted this season too if they are to hold on to Summerville, with the 22-year-old reportedly attracting interest from the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool to name two.

Crucial to Leeds’ success has been how well Farke has set his team up defensively as his side has conceded a league-lowest 37 goals this season.

Another team vying for automatic promotion and it is one awfully familiar to those who were around when the Premier League was in its infancy: Ipswich Town.

The Tractor Boys were automatically promoted from League One to the Championship after coming second and scoring a staggering 101 goals, 19 more than Plymouth Argyle who scored the second-most.

Once again Ipswich have scored goals for fun and are second in the Championship scoring chart with a tally of 85.

However, they’ve leaked 53 goals, four more than 17th-placed Queens Park Rangers.

Pivotal to Ipswich’s surge is manager Kieran McKenna, who took over in December 2021 and has dazzled in his first managerial role.

There’s also a distinct Australian flavour behind Ipswich’s push for promotion as Socceroos defender Cameron Burgess is one of their starting centre backs while Massimo Luongo is a constant presence in central midfield.

Rounding out the four-horse race is Southampton, who were coming home like a thundering steam train – until they came up against Leicester, anyway.

It seemed as if many felt the Saints would be locked in for 4th place but thanks to a combination of games in hand plus Ipswich, Leeds and Leicester tripping over themselves, they’ve been able to sneak back into the promotion battle.

Three consecutive wins also helped with entering the conversation for the top two, but a surprise loss to Cardiff City slightly dampened hopes of an automatic promotion spot.

Under Russell Martin, who joined from Swansea last summer, the club has, similarly to Leicester, adopted a possession-retention approach.

In fact, Southampton leads the Championship in how many passes they make per attacking sequence (5.18), proving they favour a slow and intricate approach as opposed to counter-attacks.

Burnley adopted a similar style under Vincent Kompany last season and it certainly helped as the players were fresher at the final stages of the season given they weren’t chasing the ball as much.

So, who’s going to avoid the lottery of the play-offs?

Leeds have only two games remaining, as do Leicester and Southampton, while Ipswich has three.

Funnily enough, it might be the Saints who have the biggest say given they play Leicester and Leeds in the final run-in, with both games away from the home comforts of St. Mary’s (UPDATE: Southampton lost 5-0 to Leicester).

There’s also the potential for a banana skin fixture given all four promotion hopefuls take on a team fighting for survival.

Southampton are still six points off second placed Leeds and have a goal difference 19 worse than them, so the Saints are virtually incapable of making the top two.

Ipswich arguably have the next toughest fixtures with away games against Hull City and Coventry City, who are seventh and eighth in the league respectively.

By the time Huddersfield roll into Portman Road, the top two might have already got away from the Tractor Boys so we’re tipping them to end the season in third.

That means it’s likely an immediate return for Leicester and Leeds.

Not as exciting as one would’ve hoped, but a well deserved reward for being the best of the Championship after another gruelling 46-game season.

FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL