Leeds United remain in the thick of an automatic promotion chase as we head into the final weeks of the season, and the good news is that history is firmly on their side. The Whites moved into top spot before the international break, although they did so because Leicester City were not in action, meaning the Foxes can reclaim top spot should they win their game in hand.
As far as Daniel Farke's men are concerned, the most important factor is their one-point lead over Ipswich Town in third place, and the Tractor Boys look as though they will be the main contender for second spot, with Southampton having a lot to do to catch up, even with their games in hand.
The most important part of Leeds' season awaits on the other side of the international break, and the Whites are going to need to be close to faultless if they want to return to the Premier League without requiring the playoffs. But they have history in their corner as they approach the final run-in.
With the promotion race so tight, we have taken a look back at the last 10 Championship promotion races to see whether the current top two on this date each year typically goes on to win automatic promotion. What we found is that a whopping nine out of last 10 automatic promotion pairs were sitting inside the top two both on March 22 of that year and at the end of the season.
The only exception from the last decade came in the 2015/16 season when Burnley saw off their automatic promotion charge from this point but Brighton, who were second at the time, did not. The Seagulls fell short to Middlesbrough, although they went on to win automatic promotion the following season and have not looked back. That's all good news for Leeds, who may need an unusually high points tally to outrun Ipswich this season.