Worrying Leeds United trend will give Southampton, Norwich and West Brom hope: View | OneFootball

Leeds United’s automatic Premier League promotion dreams are in tatters after a recent run of poor results, leaving them needing a minor miracle to dislodge Ipswich Town in the top two of the Championship on the final day.

Daniel Farke’s side sit three points behind the Tractor Boys with 90 minutes of football left to play in the regular season, meaning they require a victory over Southampton and Town to lose to second-bottom Huddersfield if they are to finish in the automatic promotion places.

After having an immediate return within their sights at the start of April, a run of just two wins in seven matches has seen the Yorkshire side slip out of contention, as they look set to embark on a playoff campaign against some of the league’s most in-form teams.

The likes of Southampton, Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion will be licking their lips at the sight of the Whites’ demise over the past few weeks, with certain weaknesses being exposed to give them hope in overcoming the Elland Road outfit in the end-of-season lottery.\

Leeds United defensive flaws have hampered Championship automatic promotion chances

Leeds have conceded 41 league goals this season, which is the second-best record in the Championship behind Champions Leicester City, but the worrying fact is that over 30% of those concessions have come since the Easter weekend.

That porous run began with a 2-2 draw at Watford, where a late Mateo Joseph strike got them out of trouble at Vicarage Road, but the early warning signs were there as the Hornets opened up their opponents time and time again despite Leeds dominating possession.

A frailty at set-pieces was also seized upon by Coventry City weeks later, as the Sky Blues took all three points from their encounter with the promotion hopefuls; something which has cropped up on a more frequent occasion than Farke will have liked recently.

The latest example of their weakness in defending the dead ball came last Friday night, as United went down 4-0 to Queens Park Rangers, with the final two goals coming from balls into the penalty area, as Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field reaped the rewards to secure Rangers’ safety.

That humbling in West London was seemingly the last nail in the coffin for any loftier ambitions for the Yorkshire side this season, with another slip up against relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers seeing them push self-destruct on a promising start to 2024.

A 15 game unbeaten run to start the calendar year had looked to have put Farke and his comrades in pole position heading into the final month of the season, only for all that good work to be unravelled with a leaky defence costing them dear.

Southampton, Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion hopes ahead of Championship playoff fixtures

As it stands, it would be West Bromwich Albion who will be facing Leeds in the playoffs, with the Baggies currently occupying the final playoff place with one game remaining in the season.

Carlos Corberan’s side need to avoid defeat against Preston North End on the final day of the season to secure sixth-spot, with Hull City eager to make the most of any mistakes with the Tigers sitting two points adrift.

If things stay as they are, Albion will be relishing the chance to go head-to-head with an out of sorts United side in the end-of-season lottery, having had the better of the exchanges between the two sides over the course of the season.

A 1-1 draw at Elland Road in the first month of the season saw Luke Ayling have to grab an equaliser for the hosts after Brandon Thomas-Asante [pictured] put the visitors ahead, before the Black Country side took the spoils in the return fixture just after Christmas.

Corberan has his side well-drilled in their defensive duties, with only Leeds and Leicester shipping less goals than them this campaign, and if they can keep Farke’s side at bay, they will fancy their chances of breaking through the recent flimsy rearguard that United possess.

Whether it is through the trickery of Mikey Johnston or the proficiency of Cedric Kipre and Kyle Bartley from attacking set-pieces, Albion have plenty of power to hurt this Leeds side, with Elland Road likely to be a bundle of nervous energy if they are faced with an obstacle to overcome in the second leg.

We all know the Yorkshire side have previous in falling apart in playoff situations, and no one will be more aware of that than Leeds fans themselves, and they will be hoping their recent weaknesses can be solved before three season-defining fixtures in the coming weeks.