It looks rosy, but ‘L’ of a way to go

HEADING into the weekend, all the top five divisions in English football were headed by a team beginning with the letter ‘L’. Liverpool, Leeds United, Luton Town, Lincoln City and Leyton Orient all topped their respective divisions from Premier League through to National League.

Bearing in mind that Leicester City are the only other team beginning with an ‘L’ in the top five tiers, it is a quite remarkable statistic. The odds of it happening must have been astronomical.

But the key question is whether they will all still be there come the end of the season. It won’t be easy, as Leeds found out last night when they were knocked off their perch by Norwich.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men have suffered a few setbacks of late, but they have dug deep this season to stay in and around top spot. Their biggest challenge does look as though it will come from Daniel Farke’s Norwich who have been one of the surprise packages this term and have a prolific marksman in Teemu Pukki.

Sheffield United are also looking strong, while West Brom and Middlesbrough, who met yesterday, will also fancy their chances of being in the shake-up.

If Leeds are under pressure in the Championship, Luton are on a roll in League One. Despite the loss of manager Nathan Jones to Stoke, the Hatters keep marching on. Their 3-2 victory against Portsmouth in midweek was a sign that Luton, promoted from League Two last term, are the real deal.

An 18-match unbeaten league run is some going and a six-point gap at the top is a nice cushion.

Lincoln had to settle for a draw at League Two’s basement side Notts County yesterday and their lead has been cut to two points by Mansfield, although the Imps do have a game in hand.

Mansfield have made some clever transfer window signings and the Stags look as though they will give Danny Cowley’s men a real fight for the title. Others, like Bury, will also seek to get in the mix.

There’s a long way to go yet…