Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has warned Leeds United that they are still at risk of not getting promoted to the Premier League this season following their defeat to Portsmouth on Sunday.
Colby Bishop scored the winning goal for the hosts just after the hour mark to ensure Pompey kept the three points in Hampshire. Leeds huffed and puffed throughout but could not find a way through on a weekend when they really could not afford to lose.
On Saturday, Burnley put relegation-threatened Luton Town to the sword with a comfortable 4-0 win while Sheffield United beat Preston North End at Bramall Lane to move level on points with the Whites. Leeds remained top of the Championship by virtue of a better goal difference than the Blades, but there is now just two points separating third and first.
With Leeds firmly in the run-in for promotion now, Lineker has warned them to avoid finishing third due to the unlikeliness of that spot going up through the dreaded play-offs. "One of them [Leeds, Sheffield United or Burnley] has to go in the play-offs; it's going to be two from three," he explained on The Rest is Football podcast.
"It's so tight, and you know what happens in the play-offs, it's so often the team in third that misses out. We’ll see what happens."
Leeds need no further warnings about the dangers of finishing third. Just last year, they finished outside the automatic promotion places only to lose to Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley.
The last team to go up after finishing third was Luton Town in the 2022/23 season but they were distantly behind the top two in the division. Leeds also finished third in the 2018/19 season and missed out on promotion to Aston Villa after losing to Derby County in the semi-finals.
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