Leeds United travel to Merseyside for Monday night’s meeting with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but weekend results elsewhere have increased the pressure on Daniel Farke’s men.
West Ham’s victory over Sunderland has trimmed Leeds’ buffer to five points, while Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 away win at Brentford lifted spirits within Sean Dyche’s team.
Despite that, Leeds head into the fixture in good form, having suffered just one defeat in their last nine outings, and they will take confidence from Everton’s four home losses in the Premier League this season.
Nevertheless, the table has tightened, and Leeds will be eager to secure a positive result to maintain a healthy distance from the relegation zone for the remainder of the campaign.
Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker warn Leeds
Lineker and Shearer were discussing the state of the relegation dogfight following the weekend’s results in the Rest is Football podcast.
West Ham’s two wins and Nottingham Forest’s victory over Brentford have shaken things up, and the two conceded that the situation has changed.
Lineker stressed that West Ham’s win has increased the pressure on Leeds, and the Hammers are now threatening to drag one or two teams back into the relegation fight.
He feels a lot more points will be required for any team to survive in the Premier League than was previously anticipated.
Lineker said, “The fact is that with West Ham winning two on the bounce, they have closed that gap to not just Forest, but also Leeds.
“If they can keep that run going, they will drag one or two down there.
“We were thinking that 28 points should be enough to stay up, but that is not the case any longer.
“Things have changed.”
Shearer insisted that West Ham are at least showing some fight that was missing from their performances during large parts of the season.
He added, “At least, West Ham have given themselves a little bit of a chance.
“At least there is some fight, whereas we didn’t see any of that for large periods of the season.”
Leeds need a result at Everton tonight to ease the pressure
The Whites will bank on their recent resilience away from home to get a result on Merseyside tonight against Everton.
Leeds have picked up draws against teams such as Liverpool and Brentford, while their strong form at Elland Road has helped move them up to 16th in the standings. Their loss at Newcastle only came after two late goals and a costly goalkeeping mistake that forced Lucas Perri out of the team.
Another tough test awaits at Everton, but recent performances suggest Leeds are capable of getting something from Monday night’s visit. The Toffees sit 11th, seven points ahead of Leeds, but have struggled for goals, and the absence of Jack Grealish is expected to further blunt their attacking edge.
As a result, Leeds will feel they have a genuine chance of coming away with at least a point, and perhaps even a statement away win.
However, a defeat could bring back talk of relegation just as Leeds were looking forward to a more comfortable mid-table finish.
