Leeds or Norwich? Crouch picks out the Championship team that has impressed him most this season

Stoke City striker Peter Crouch says Norwich are the Championship’s most impressive team.

Norwich are currently second in the Championship behind Leeds United, who have undergone a dramatic transformation since Marcelo Bielsa took over at Elland Road.

What’s made Norwich so impressive this season? Five things to know…

1. Norwich finished 14th in the Championship in head coach Daniel Farke’s first season there.
2. The Canaries are currently in second place, only two points behind Leeds.
3. Daniel Farke has transformed Norwich into a passing side that regularly dominate possession.
4. Norwich have scored the third-highest total of goals (44) in the Championship this season.
5. Teemu Pukki, who is the third-highest goalscorer in the division with 13 goals, has also made four assists for his teammates this campaign.

Crouch, who played in England’s second tier earlier in his career with Queens Park Rangers, expected his return to the division to be more of a rough-and-tumble affair.

“Before the start of the season, I had an expectation of how things would be in the Championship,” Crouch told the Daily Mail.

“When I last played in that division at the start of my career, it was no place for the faint-hearted as plenty of players would kick lumps out of you.

“I can say now my assumption was completely wrong. The quality of the Championship has improved beyond recognition and the league is as competitive as anything in Europe.

“There are so many good players and you can see the influence of foreign managers everywhere.”

Crouch predicts that the automatic promotion places will be filled by either Leeds, Norwich, or West Brom, but it is the Canaries that have impressed him the most so far.

He added: “The automatic promotion places will probably be filled at the end of the year by two from leaders Leeds, Norwich and West Brom. Of those, Norwich impressed me most. We beat them 1-0 in October but they move the ball so well.

“Whoever goes up from those three, I can see them emulating Brighton and Wolves and being comfortable in the top flight.”

Who will win the Championship?

Leeds remain top of the Championship table but have fallen to back-to-back defeats for the first time under Bielsa against Hull City and Nottingham Forest.

They are there by virtue of the fact Norwich have failed to win any of their last three games, drawing twice and losing to Derby County.

West Brom, meanwhile, have slipped to fourth below a Sheffield United side fired up the table by the Championship’s joint-top scorer, Billy Sharp, who has five goals in his last four games.

The current top six:

1. Leeds Utd – 51 pts (+16GD)

2. Norwich City – 49 pts (+14GD)

3. Sheffield Utd – 47 pts (+17GD)

4. West Brom – 46 pts (+20GD)

5. Middlesbrough – 43 pts (+10GD)

6. Derby – 43 pts (+6GD)

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