Leeds United: Eight wins on the bounce
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Obviously, as you say, they're leads on a good run of form at the moment and it's coming a good time for Leeds United as well.
00:07 Eight wins in a row but at the same time, a lot of the teams around them have been having little setbacks.
00:14 Southampton, I think most notably, have lost a couple of games recently. I think that game was against Bristol City last week.
00:21 That was a bit of a shock, which I was watching that game actually and I did not expect that result from it.
00:27 I just thought, well, that's a real boost for Leeds. Of course, Leicester are playing sailing and you'd back them all the way to take the championship trophy.
00:36 But it is really that battle for second place and not wanting to finish third. Leeds are in poor position for that at the moment, given Southampton's recent slip.
00:45 Obviously, Ipswich as well, their form has teetered around a little bit. It's gone up and it's gone down.
00:49 So, yes, Leeds are doing what they need to do at the moment and surely for the crowd at Elland Road, that's exactly what they want to see.
00:56 Yes, definitely. We'll come to Leicester in a minute and the title race because that's not necessarily done yet.
01:02 It depends on what happens this Friday, I think. But obviously, for Leeds, all that matters is getting the top two.
01:06 The bottom line is they are now in that position without having to worry about games in hand and teams below them and whatever.
01:12 Saying that, even though Southampton did have a game in hand before their game in midweek, which obviously failed to defeat against Hull City,
01:19 even if they had have won that, it would actually still have been in Leeds' hands by virtue of playing Southampton on the last game of the season.
01:24 In terms of if they won every game, they would have still gone up.
01:27 I suppose the other thing you have to remember is that now Ipswich are level on points with Leeds, but the goal difference is quite a big difference.
01:33 I think it's 14 goals difference. I mean, there's 13 games left, but that's a fair swing, really.
01:37 So, it almost kind of feels like an extra point. But they are now in second place.
01:42 The thing I would say with it is obviously this is a huge game this weekend, which we'll come to in a minute.
01:46 It could very, very quickly turn again if Leeds don't get the victory this weekend because you would expect both.
01:51 We never know in the Championship, as we've seen this week, but you would expect Southampton and Ipswich to both bounce back.
01:55 So, that's why it's important this weekend. But it's very much in Leeds' hands.
01:59 You sort of get the question asked a bit now, are Leeds the best team in the Championship?
02:03 I mean, they're not top of the table. So, the first thing to say would be no, because they're not top.
02:07 But on form and the way they're going at the moment, they are. No other team's won eight in a row.
02:10 No other team's playing the way they are. You've got to say, looking at the fixtures, they've probably got the best fixtures of the teams remaining.
02:17 I mean, that's notwithstanding the fact they've got to get past the Leicester game this weekend.
02:21 And, of course, the one everybody's already looking at is the last game of the season, which is Leeds v Southampton at Ellen Road, which I mean,
02:27 I mean, I heard it said that could be like a playoff final in itself.
02:30 And you can kind of see that, you know, like if there's like one point, two points in it between the two teams and it's just down to them.
02:36 So, that could be enormous. But if they keep going the way they are, they might even sort of like hopefully be almost there by then.
02:42 I mean, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, but they have got a good run in and the teams below them have got to play each other.
02:47 Ipswich have got to play Southampton, Ipswich have got to go to Coventry, Ipswich have got to go to Hull.
02:51 So, there's three hard ones, Leicester, Southampton, Ipswich, Southampton and then Leeds, Southampton on the last game.
02:56 So, they're going to take points off each other as well. And we did say a few weeks ago on these shows that all Leeds need to do is just string wins together, you know,
03:04 and like, although it sounds far-fetched, just get five, six, seven, eight wins in a row together.
03:09 And that's difficult to do, obviously, but they've done it, you know, they've done eight in a row.
03:13 We'll wait and see what happens with Leicester, but the rest of the fixtures after that, you know, I'm not taking the championship lightly by any means, nobody is.
03:19 But they've got it within them. They've got the squad to be able to do that again, no matter what happens against Leicester,
03:24 to get another five in a row or six in a row. So, yeah, I mean, it's turned very, very quickly.
03:29 And that's because of 1-8 in a row and other teams have dropped points. Daniel Farker always said,
03:33 if they can get two points a game, they'll be there or thereabouts, or you're usually there or thereabouts.
03:36 And that's where they are. So, all credit to them. And, you know, you have to say it's looking good.
03:41 They are actually now favourites to finish second for the first time in a while and odds on as well.
03:45 It's not a surprise because of all the things they've just said. And in a way,
03:49 you could probably argue over who will emerge the bigger threat out of Southampton and Ipswich.
03:53 They're both 3-1 joint favourites. So, there'll be plenty more twists and turns.
03:57 I almost potentially worry about Ipswich more because they obviously brought in a lot of signings in January
04:03 and Kieran McKenna said himself like it would take time for them to bed in.
04:06 So, I do wonder if they will emerge the main threat. But obviously, we all know how good Southampton are.
04:11 You don't go on a club record run like they have. So, there's an awful long way to go yet.
04:16 You don't take anything for granted. But it's very much in Leeds' hands now.
04:19 They are the team to catch in second. And to be honest, above and beyond that,
04:23 they should even be looking above them to try and catch Leicester. And I'm sure that's what will come to next.