Leicester City have been promoted back to the Premier League from the Championship after second-placed Leeds United lost 4-0 to Queens Park Rangers on Friday.

Leeds’ defeat means that they are four points behind Leicester with only one match left to play, thereby ensuring that they can no longer overtake the midlands club for one of the two automatic promotion places.

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Third-placed Ipswich Town could still catch Leicester, but even if they were to win their three remaining matches, Leicester would need just four points from their two remaining games to win the title.

Leicester, whose nine-year Premier League stay was ended by relegation last season, had seemed almost certain of a return to the top flight when they opened up a 14-point gap between themselves and third place in February. But they saw that lead quickly shrink after a poor run of form that left them needing to pick up some vital points toward the end of the season.

After back-to-back defeats, Leicester beat West Brom and thrashed Southampton 5-0 in their last two matches to put them back in pole position for promotion.

Enzo Maresca was appointed as the club’s head coach at the end of the last campaign, and he has implemented an attractive. possession-based style that has seen his team excel this season.

Leicester famously shocked the sporting world by winning the Premier League in 2016 before sliding down the table in the following years and suffering relegation to the Championship in May 2023.

However, Leicester could face a points deduction for next season after the Premier League referred them to an independent commission in March over alleged breaches of the league’s profit and sustainability rules.

Leicester face Preston North End at Deepdale on Monday.