It would be easy for everyone connected with Leeds United to get carried away after the team’s spectacular start to 2024. The feelgood factor is well and truly back at Elland Road following an eight-match winning streak.
Their next assignment? A date with the leaders
It promises to be the Whites’ toughest test yet since Christmas. Leicester City have shown remarkable consistency this season, winning 25 out of their 33 Championship matches.
It promises to be the Whites’ toughest test yet since Christmas. Leicester City have shown remarkable consistency this season, winning 25 out of their 33 Championship matches.
But defeat to Middlesbrough last time out reduced the Foxes’ lead at the top of the table to nine points and ended their six-match undefeated run. Victory for United on Friday evening would move them to within striking distance of City.
Can the Whites follow in the footsteps of the class of 2020 and win the league? Completing the double over the Foxes would certainly open up the title race and send out a message to the rest of the division.
However, United’s immediate focus should be on keeping Southampton and Ipswich Town at bay rather than focusing on catching City. Both Saints and fourth-placed Ipswich can go above the Whites if they win their respective midweek matches tomorrow night (the Tractor Boys would need a big win at bottom club Rotherham United to leapfrog Daniel Farke’s side).
The bookmakers expect Southampton and Ipswich to do the business against Hull City and Rotherham respectively. Time and time again Southampton and Ipswich have proven they are two strong teams. The signs are that Ipswich have got through their sticky patch. Those two clubs are not going away anytime soon.
