Leeds Pre Match - Friday 3rd November

[Pita]

We need to play a lot better than last week. Got to be our best performance and nothing less 

[Guest nathan.]

23 minutes ago, weller54 said:

Yes, obviously.. but if we win that's a 17 point gap!

Personally, I think that's insurmountable.

Even with a 17 point gap its still very early in the season and we will hit a blip eventually. 

 

Injury's could still play a huge part and we still have the AFCON coming up.

 

Still 32 games to play and im not taking anything for granted.

 

 

[Jobyfox]

1 minute ago, nathan. said:

Even with a 17 point gap its still very early in the season and we will hit a blip eventually. 

 

Injury's could still play a huge part and we still have the AFCON coming up.

 

Still 32 games to play and im not taking anything for granted.

 

 

I think people forget these details. 
 

The last two or three seasons we’ve had a glut of significant injuries. We can only hope that our most important players avoid long term absences this season, but it’s been a while since we’ve achieved that.
 

These absences could easily affect form and the gap, at the moment, is just a great insurance policy. That’s also because there are 46 games in the Championship. That’s 32 games left to go. 

[MGLCFC]

41 minutes ago, nathan. said:

Even with a 17 point gap its still very early in the season and we will hit a blip eventually. 

 

Injury's could still play a huge part and we still have the AFCON coming up.

 

Still 32 games to play and im not taking anything for granted.

 

 

We will not be the only team that pick up injuries, but our squad is superior to most and we should be able to cope.

I think we lose 4 players to AFCON - Daka will be no loss as Cannon will replace him

Hopefully Cannon and Vardy can rotate once Nacho goes to the AFCON.

Fatawu could be the main loss, but we do have McAteer and Yunus who can play on that wing.

Hoping Praet and Casadei can cover for Wilf.

There is also a transfer window in January where we could strengthen, particularly if we are still well ahead of 3rd place.

[HybridFox]

One win away from staying up! 

[Bptiger]

6 hours ago, MGLCFC said:

We will not be the only team that pick up injuries, but our squad is superior to most and we should be able to cope.

I think we lose 4 players to AFCON - Daka will be no loss as Cannon will replace him

Hopefully Cannon and Vardy can rotate once Nacho goes to the AFCON.

Fatawu could be the main loss, but we do have McAteer and Yunus who can play on that wing.

Hoping Praet and Casadei can cover for Wilf.

There is also a transfer window in January where we could strengthen, particularly if we are still well ahead of 3rd place.

Think we need a playmaker to take the pressure of winks , when the window opens 

[Out Foxed]

11 hours ago, weller54 said:

Yes, obviously.. but if we win that's a 17 point gap!

Personally, I think that's insurmountable.

dunno about that. the championship is the streakiest league going. 

[teblin]

5 hours ago, HybridFox said:

One win away from staying up! 

We went down with 52  points in 2008

[Tommy Fresh]

5 hours ago, HybridFox said:

One win away from staying up! 

Eh?

[Happy Fox]

17 point gap is insurmountable even at this stage, other teams could pick up form other than Leeds but as far as Leeds top 2 aspirations , they aren’t overtaking us, maybe Ipswich. But we aren’t losing 5 games on the spin and them winning 5 games on the bounce to close that gap.

[Pick Good Name Later]

5 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

17 point gap is insurmountable even at this stage, other teams could pick up form other than Leeds but as far as Leeds top 2 aspirations , they aren’t overtaking us, maybe Ipswich. But we aren’t losing 5 games on the spin and them winning 5 games on the bounce to close that gap.

A 17 point gap is insurmountable but if Ipswich win they’re within 2 points of us. Yet we can’t be caught but Ipswich maybe can? They’ve looked equally as impressive as us, if not more at times. 
 

Struggling with this.

[Ric Flair]

I badly want us to turn these over. Their fans are insufferable at times. Twitter this week is genuinely astonishing. According to their fans they have a better defence than ours, a better midfield and a better attack.

 

How on earth have we won double the amount of games they have, scored more goals and conceded less? 

 

They are a typically erratic team that for the neutral will be enjoyable to watch. I really hope we can deal with them, we've dealt with pretty much everything thrown at us this season. 

 

The atmosphere on Friday should make for a great game, looking forward to it. Really wish Ndidi was available.

[Jobyfox]

11 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

17 point gap is insurmountable even at this stage, other teams could pick up form other than Leeds but as far as Leeds top 2 aspirations , they aren’t overtaking us, maybe Ipswich. But we aren’t losing 5 games on the spin and them winning 5 games on the bounce to close that gap.

So if Harry Winks did his ACL on Friday and KDH suffered a long term injury the week after it’s not possible that someone could close a 17 point gap over 31 games. When we’ve built up a 17 point gap in less than half those number of games.

 

Ok 

Edited 31 October 2023 by Jobyfox

[Happy Fox]

2 minutes ago, Pick Good Name Later said:

A 17 point gap is insurmountable but if Ipswich win they’re within 2 points of us. Yet we can’t be caught but Ipswich maybe can? They’ve looked equally as impressive as us, if not more at times. 
 

Struggling with this.

Yes you’re right, Ipswich also aren’t Being caught if they win their game in hand.

 

Top 2 is done I think. All the other teams are competing for the playoffs from 3rd - 13th imo

[Happy Fox]

3 minutes ago, Jobyfox said:

So if Harry Winks did his ACL on Friday and KDH suffered a long term injury the week after it’s not possible that someone could close a 17 point gap over 31 games. When we’ve built up a 17 point gap in less than half those number of games.

 

Ok 

We have squad depth don’t we ? We have young promising players that could step up? Do you really think our form is going to drop off a cliff 😂 even if we lost our key players to injury we would still win and draw games the gap may go down over the course of the season but it would still be a healthy gap and other teams cannot catch us.

[Pliskin]

I am genuinely concerned about this game. Leeds have the capacity to turn us over if they want. We don’t turn up we could well get slapped. I just hope we can use the home advantage and dominate the game. I just worry that Falke is a smart enough manager to approach the game like Sunderland did, but probably have the players to execute it a bit better. They’re horribly inconsistent, but could raise their game enough to give us a really tough evening. 
 

For me, genuinely the toughest test this season, win it, and I’ll predict we won’t lose a game again this season. Lose, and it could be a psychological blow…..

Edited 31 October 2023 by Pliskin

[tinpot_fox]

14 minutes ago, Pick Good Name Later said:

A 17 point gap is insurmountable but if Ipswich win they’re within 2 points of us. Yet we can’t be caught but Ipswich maybe can? They’ve looked equally as impressive as us, if not more at times. 
 

Struggling with this.

At this point, I reckon this is a far bigger game for Leeds than it is for us. Lose and we could muddle through to 2nd somehow or other if we had a loss of form (even though the most common comment is that we have never actually been in form, just second gear). Leeds could potentially lose quite a few places in the league after this game. Obviously I’d prefer to win this game and continue a fantastic run. Also, I’ve found some Leeds fans to be insufferable, so them losing always makes me smile 😃 

[fuchsntf]

11 hours ago, Jobyfox said:

I think people forget these details. 
 

The last two or three seasons we’ve had a glut of significant injuries. We can only hope that our most important players avoid long term absences this season, but it’s been a while since we’ve achieved that.
 

These absences could easily affect form and the gap, at the moment, is just a great insurance policy. That’s also because there are 46 games in the Championship. That’s 32 games left to go. 

AFCON... IS This really such a bother for us,...

like to have.. Need to have...

Really Miss..?? 

 

Let's say 3-4 major injury hits:-

More of a concern I would say. 

Fans would have their own  POV, which ones are more concerning?? 

 

Until something like this happens, and root of the squad  is really tested, one doesn't know, nor can one even assume. That's why we see,  Enzo also pushing, involving, testing on the cusp fringe players. 

At present one can't see, anything cropping up, that diverts the flow.. 

We have already established some sort of Status quo to our selection, System, solid-form, even foreseen possible weaknesses... Though pride & arrogance come before a fall. 

 

I know & realise with my other topic, I am pushing it... Actually experienced life is life,, SPORT is sport,I normally wouldn't open the door.. 

but I am being sort of entitled and going against my own vanity and creating /forcing a flow of thought... THAT Promotion is a forgone conclusion.. Then throwing in an entitled stance..

HOW DO WE PREVENT.. the type of carpet scenario we are seeing with the promoted teams.. 

Is this normal Leeds fixture and topic A backbreaker..?? 

 

[majaco]

22 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

I badly want us to turn these over. Their fans are insufferable at times. Twitter this week is genuinely astonishing. According to their fans they have a better defence than ours, a better midfield and a better attack.

 

How on earth have we won double the amount of games they have, scored more goals and conceded less? 

 

They are a typically erratic team that for the neutral will be enjoyable to watch. I really hope we can deal with them, we've dealt with pretty much everything thrown at us this season. 

 

The atmosphere on Friday should make for a great game, looking forward to it. Really wish Ndidi was available.

You make some good points.   I bet their fans find ours insufferable too though.  The predictions of beating QPR 6-0 were a little wide of the mark

 

It is an intriguing game.

[Jobyfox]

15 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

We have squad depth don’t we ? We have young promising players that could step up? Do you really think our form is going to drop off a cliff 😂 even if we lost our key players to injury we would still win and draw games the gap may go down over the course of the season but it would still be a healthy gap and other teams cannot catch us.

The truth is neither of us know. We’re looking into a crystal ball. 
 

The statement “17 points is insurmountable” however is clearly wrong. It’s factually and mathematically incorrect. 
 

All we can do, at this stage, is preface comments like that with “in my opinion” or “on the balance of probabilities” or “it’s unlikely that”. 

[Number 6]

I don't see a 17 point gap being recovered. If they ran at 2ppg for the remainder, and we dropped to 1ppg then it would still take 17 of the 31 games for them to draw level. We'd only need to run at 1.5ppg with Leeds in title winning form, for them to run out of games.

[jmono84]

13 hours ago, kristianity77 said:

One thing for sure is if we play like we did against Sunderland and QPR, despite the wins, Leeds will turn us over.

 

If we play to our best there is only one winner, but we will need a performance as well to get a win here I think. 

We were no where near our best at Sunderland but could have easily won 4-1. I’ve got no issues with that game.

 

QPR defended deep with lots of numbers and we struggled to create any good chances but we managed to grind a win.

 

I do think we were a bit sloppy in possession, maybe complacency creeping in but I still think we were solid both games.

 

Leeds will be a completely different game to QPR but our players should absolutely be up for this!

[Pick Good Name Later]

31 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

We have squad depth don’t we ? We have young promising players that could step up? Do you really think our form is going to drop off a cliff 😂 even if we lost our key players to injury we would still win and draw games the gap may go down over the course of the season but it would still be a healthy gap and other teams cannot catch us.

I don’t disagree on your points re squad depth and young players. 
 

Re our form dropping off a cliff. I’d hope not, but it’s possible.
 

I’m not sure this explains why Ipswich could be caught though? 

[Babylon]

55 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

17 point gap is insurmountable even at this stage, other teams could pick up form other than Leeds but as far as Leeds top 2 aspirations , they aren’t overtaking us, maybe Ipswich. But we aren’t losing 5 games on the spin and them winning 5 games on the bounce to close that gap.

There would be 31 games and 93 points to play for. Can people stop with the "insurmountable" stuff because it's in no way shape or form impossible to overcome. 

 

It's almost like people have forgotten the points swing we had against Man U only a few seasons ago. 

Edited 31 October 2023 by Babylon

[Vazman]

This will be a good test / match, and wont be easy they will come for a win.

 

We have had 3 tough, physically demanding matches on the bounce, with little rest between, I'm hoping the rest and preparation Saturday to Friday will be enough to recharge and prepare for this, Enzo will do his analysis, and homework well on these, the home advantage will help, it's too close to call for me but a win here would be excellent.