Leeds’ relegation prospects increased as they were dealt a third succeesive defeat by Fulham on Saturday afternoon.
United were on the receiving end of a 6-1 thrashing to Liverpool on Monday night and shipped five goals to Crystal Palace the week before. Strikes from Harry Wilson and Andreas Pereira helped the Cottagers squeeze past Leeds, who responded with a Joao Palhinha own goal 11 minutes from times.
Javi Gracia’s focus remains on retaining Leeds’ Premier League status, so here’s who they’ve got coming up next.
In just three days’ time, Gracia and his squad are back to it in a potentially crucial encounter against fellow relegation battlers Leicester.
Leicester are four points behind them in 19th and without a victory in ten fixtures. However, the visitors may enter the bout with momentum swung in their favour as they face off against a struggling Wolves side just before.
A nice trip down south is the cherry on top for Leeds’ April schedule, with the hope of embarking on the long journey home with three points under the belt.
Leeds’ away form this term makes for grim reading as they’ve only won two on the road, but the two sides’ seven-goal thriller in November shows the points are there to be grabbed.
Just four points separate the sides which makes this match-up a tense battle, with neither wanting to drop down to the Championship.
A Sunday afternoon contest is then on the agenda for the Elland Road-based outfit. Unfortunately for them, it’s away against a roaring Manchester City.
Since Gracia’s mid-season appointment, Leeds have won just three matches in all competitions and been porous at the back. That’s never good news when coming up against goal-gobbler Erling Haaland.
The reigning champions were 3-1 victors in the return fixture with former Leeds midfielder Kalvin Philipps an unused substitute. But will the England international have a part to play in potentially sending his previous club down?
Eddie Howe’s refined Newcastle side are defensively sound, but also possess ample firepower in an attacking sense. They’re looking to secure Champions League football, but Leeds have their own challenge ahead; survival.
In their nine meetings, the spoils have been shared evenly with three wins apiece and three draws, with their latest stalemate coming at the end of last year.
This time around, though, both teams will be yearning for three points and nothing else.
West Ham have upped the ante as of late and managed to couple steady Premier League progress with reaching the final four of the Europa Conference League.
A previous four-goal draw – in which previous Leeds boss Jesse Marsch was cautioned – shows this second meeting of the campaign will be one not to miss. Two behemoths of English football with minimal points separating them in the standings fighting in order to stay up – it could be peak Barclays.
Rodrigo Bentancur snatched the three points away from Leeds in mid-November as his late brace topped off a seven-goal battle between the pair.
The last day of the season could be monumental in Leeds’ pursuit to stay in the top division while Tottenham are gunning for Champions League football.
What an end to the season this could be.
Credit: 90min.com
