Should Reading FC be fearful of Leeds United breaking 19-year record?
Leeds United, who are currently enjoying a 14-game unbeaten run in league action, may have their sights set on another, more coveted record just under a year later: the most points in a single Championship season. As they continue to blow by opponents, they appear more and more dangerous.
Farke’s team has won their last three games by an overall score of 13-0, and the Whites have scored the last 18 goals in Leeds games.
Will the pressure from teams below keep Leeds on the throttle, and if they do, will Reading FC be anxiously glancing over their shoulder at their seemingly unassailable points record in a Championship season? The title battle this season is still very much alive.
Reading FC’s 2005–06 season will go down in history.
Reading had no intention of reproducing the heartbreak that followed the 2004–05 season, when the Royals went on a three-game losing streak to finish the season and missed the playoffs by three points.
After winning a Championship, Reading lost just two games, including one on the first day of the season, and ended up losing more league games in the last three weeks of the previous season than they did in the whole 2005–06 season.
| Reading in the 2005/06 Championship season – per Transfermarkt | |
| Games | 46 |
| Wins | 31 |
| Draws | 13 |
| Defeats | 2 |
| Goals For | 99 |
| Goals Against | 32 |
| Points | 106 |
Under Steve Coppell’s leadership, Reading scored a league-high 99 goals throughout the season, had four players in double figures, and preserved 22 clean sheets while giving up the fewest goals in the division.
Only Watford, with whom they drew 0-0 twice, and Southampton (also 0-0) held them scoreless during the campaign; they scored in 43 of the 46 games.
With 106 points—a record that hasn’t been surpassed—the team won 31 games, drew 13, and lost just twice.
Three teams, including Burnley two seasons ago, have become Centurians in the Championship since their 106-point campaign, but no one has yet to reach or surpass 106 since 2006.
But can Leeds United provide a serious challenge to the record after 19 years?
This season, Leeds has amassed 69 points from 32 games with 20 wins, 9 draws, and 3 losses.
Mathematically speaking, Leeds must gain 36 points to tie and 37 points to surpass Reading’s existing record.
Leeds must win 12 of their next 14 games with at least one draw in order to shatter the record, since they still have 42 points to play for. Although it’s a difficult assignment, Leeds could be able to handle it considering their current form.
The team led by Daniel Farke enters a three-game run against West Brom, Sheffield United, and Sunderland in what may be their finest form of the year. They enter a run-in where they will only play two of the current top-half teams in their final 11 games if they accumulate the most points from those games.
Leeds would have won 10 of their past 11 league games if not for late equalizers against Hull City and Blackburn Rovers.
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