David Prutton shares Sunderland admission in Leeds United promotion prediction

David Prutton has predicted Leeds United and Sheffield United to beat Sunderland to promotion from the Championship this season.

Daniel Farke's side are just two points behind the Black Cats and the Blades at the top of the table, having taken 29 points from their opening 15 matches of the campaign.

With the Whites facing Swansea City at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday 23 November, there is a real chance to reach the top of the table, with Sunderland facing Millwall and Sheffield United taking on Coventry City.

Writing via the Yorkshire Evening Post [23 November], Prutton said: "I think right now, my gut feeling is a Leeds-Sheffield United top two, in which order I don't quite know.

"That's no disrespect to Sunderland because they've been fantastic and potentially you've got the makings of an Ipswich-like run at the top two which doesn't have the heavy weight of expectation nor the assumption that they can go the distance. But they've been very good so far."

Leeds United to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League?

Farke will certainly be hoping to avoid the dreaded play-offs this time, especially after reaching the final last season and falling short to Southampton at Wembley Stadium.

That moment caused a massive domino effect at Elland Road, with Archie Gray, Georginio Rutter, Glen Kamara and Crysencio Summerville all leaving, but the club have rebuilt since.

Wilfried Gnonto looks to have taken on a more senior role in the absence of his attacking role models, which has proven to be a good thing for his confidence as he continues to impress in the Championship.

He is likely to be an important figure if the Whites are to achieve promotion to the Premier League this season, but it will be a very tight call with so many other talented teams around them in the table.

Prutton has clearly found it difficult to choose his automatic promotion spots so early in the campaign but fans at Elland Road will not be complaining at all to see Leeds in the top two places.

In other Leeds United news, Andrea Radrizzani has hit back at a Leeds fan on social media after sending a message to Elon Musk.

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