Leeds United: A statement win over Leicester City
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00:00 Lee, Leeds were victorious at the King Power Stadium on Friday night, quite the statement victory that was,
00:06 beating top of the table Leicester, even though Leeds are a good 10 or so points, or were at that point, behind them.
00:14 Looking at that win, just what does it say to the rest of the Championship, in terms of Leeds being able to catch the top two, who have created this little barrier for themselves?
00:23 Yeah, definitely. It's a big statement of intent. And I think what it does tell you is that Leeds are definitely one of the best sides.
00:29 It's a big thing to say, but if not the best side in the division. Now, obviously, people will look at that and think, well, how can you say that when Leicester are still clear and Ipswich are clear of them?
00:36 But I'm talking about the here and now, really, and where we're at at this stage of the season, in terms of Leeds had a bit of a slow start.
00:44 And that was no surprise whatsoever. Obviously, Daniel Farker, when he came in, said it would be a difficult start, with the huge transition of players going out.
00:51 I mean, very unsettling. They did well to sort of like, almost, can I keep it together as they did?
00:55 But obviously, it was a slow start to the season and now they're sort of like just catching up.
00:58 And ultimately, now the question mark really is, have Ipswich and Leicester got too much of a buffer on Leeds?
01:03 Now, there's loads of things you can say about that.
01:05 The first thing to say is at the stage of the season, where there's only 15 games in with 31 games to go.
01:10 So, I mean, that tells you what you need to know. There's plenty of time to make up that gap.
01:14 Secondly, is you've got to look at the fixtures.
01:15 The fact is, is that Leeds have been to Leicester and they've been to Ipswich and beat both of them away from home.
01:20 They've got to play both of them at Elland Road and also on top of that, Leicester and Ipswich have to play each other twice.
01:24 So, obviously, somewhere along the lines, those four games all offer opportunities.
01:29 Look, this isn't to say that obviously it's not the case where, you know, teams, all three of those are just going to win every week because they won't.
01:34 There will be slip-ups, you know, along the way.
01:36 But I think what is true is that I think it will be a very exacting standard this season.
01:40 Obviously, there'll be question marks about Ipswich.
01:43 Can they keep it going in terms of their squad strength and stuff?
01:46 But, you know, you've got to sort of like take your heart off to them.
01:47 They've been brilliant even at the weekend, fighting back at Birmingham.
01:50 And obviously Leicester's squad there is there for all to see, really.
01:54 Leeds were fantastic at the King Power, fully deserved the victory.
01:57 Obviously, the fact that Leicester didn't have a shot on target right at the end to Lilla Melia kind of said it all.
02:02 And they can obviously pinpoint, look at the fact they hit the bar and whatever.
02:05 But it was an excellent performance from Leeds who looked, as I say, looked just as good, if not better, than Leicester.
02:09 So I think Leeds have got an excellent chance.
02:11 What I would say, there was a don't really think that, I think, obviously Leicester and Ipswich will drop points along the way.
02:16 But I don't expect either of those two sides to go on like a horror run, you know, of like not picking up many points in over a certain amount of games.
02:22 So I think Leeds are probably going to need something similar to the sort of run they're on at the moment.
02:26 Five wins in six it is now.
02:28 And that's what it's about, this division.
02:29 It's about consistency.
02:30 And I think if they can be consistent, they've definitely got the squad.
02:33 They've definitely got the players.
02:34 They've definitely got the manager.
02:36 And really, it should be looking good.
02:37 Like I say, it is whether or not there is that gap.
02:40 You can't pretend that gap isn't there.
02:41 And it is a sizeable gap.
02:42 Obviously, a lot depends on Ipswich's game in hand as well.
02:46 But yeah, I mean, I think it would be looking pretty good.
02:47 Leicester are 4-7 to win the league, so there's still odds on.
02:50 Ipswich are 4-1.
02:51 Leeds are now about 13-2.
02:53 They were around about 14-1.
02:54 So, you know, the title odds have been slashed, really, which is not really a surprise to see.
02:59 And I think you'd probably say that's about fair enough.
03:00 They've got to be seen as third favourites because of where they are on the table.
03:03 But, you know, the fixtures are there.
03:04 There's plenty of games left.
03:05 And more importantly, they've got the team and the squad.
03:07 So hopefully it'll be looking good for an automatic promotion place.
03:11 But it's obviously an awful long way to go yet.
03:12 Bottom line is, Daniel, they've got to be consistent.
03:15 and as simple as that.