Pundit outlines how Burnley, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough are different from the rest of the Championship | OneFootball

Former Blackpool forward Brett Ormerod believes anyone can beat anyone in the Championship except when it comes to Burnley, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough, speaking in an interview with Lancs Live.

Those three sides currently make up the top three of the second tier, with the Clarets and the Blades spending the majority of the campaign together in the top two.

The Clarets have been particularly impressive due to their consistency and the fact they have kept putting points on the board despite the fact their squad is still reasonably new, with several players coming in during the past couple of transfer windows.

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Boro, on the other hand, endured a poor start to the 2022/23 campaign under Chris Wilder but have been exceptional under the stewardship of Michael Carrick, managing to remain consistent and bouncing back from setbacks superbly.

Currently just four points adrift of the Blades, they still have a chance of winning automatic promotion and it looks as though it may be a three-horse race for automatic promotion now.

Those three teams are an anomaly in the second tier, according to Ormerod, who believes all teams in the second tier can beat others in their division with the exception of the top trio.

He said: “The Championship is such a difficult league – apart from Burnley, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United you can throw a blanket over the rest in terms of anyone beating anyone.

“It’s probably easier to pick six balls and a bonus ball than it is to pick five results in the Championship, it’s that ridiculous!”

The Verdict:

The Clarets not only have a decent amount of strength in depth, allowing them to thrive even when injuries have come into play, but they have also shown real character at times.

Coming from behind on numerous occasions and securing a very late equaliser against Watford not so long ago, teams know they need to put the game to bed against the Clarets if they want to ensure they come away with the three points.

But with the quality they have, it’s almost impossible for them to be hammered at this level and the only real hammering they have got this season is from Sheffield United earlier in the campaign.

The Blades, meanwhile, have just been really consistent for much of the season and that should come as no real surprise considering the positive impact manager Paul Heckingbottom had when he replaced Slavisa Jokanovic last season.

Boro have also been superb and have such a great amount of depth in their squad, something that has helped them to thrive, with their quality at the top end of the pitch potentially paying dividends for them in their quest for promotion.