Leeds United have been in fine form as of late, but their recent performances aren’t enough to convince everyone that they will stay up this season.
Daniel Farke’s side have had a new lease of life in recent weeks, with a promising performance against Manchester City being followed up with a big win against Chelsea before two solid draws against Liverpool and Brentford.
Most predicted the German manager would have been out of a job by this point; however, Farke’s side looks like a totally different team ever since making the switch to the 5-3-2 system.
But despite Leeds sitting three points clear of the drop zone after amassing five points in their last three games, a former Manchester United player still believes the Whites will be a Championship side this time next season.
Tim Howard predicts Leeds will be relegated
If Leeds are to avoid the drop, they will need the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin to continue scoring as he did against Brentford.
However, despite Calvert-Lewin’s form leading Farke to bring up Harry Kane when discussing the 28-year-old, ultimately, Howard feels as though United will still get relegated.
Speaking on NBC Sports on 14 December in the aftermath of Leeds’ 1-1 draw with Brentford, Howard said:
“Even though they (Leeds) are above West Ham, my footballing brain still says that Forest and West Ham are better than Leeds overall.
“Now, West Ham hasn’t shown that (so far), but that’s what I see, so it’s still going to be really, really tough (for Leeds to stay up).”
Thankfully for Leeds supporters, not all pundits share this view, with Jamie Carragher predicting Brentford could get drawn into a relegation battle with Leeds after what he saw at the weekend.
READ MORE: Former Brentford captain stunned by £17m Leeds United man’s latest performance
Fixtures do not get any easier for Leeds
After playing the aforementioned Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool in recent weeks, United supporters may think a run of easier-looking fixtures awaits their side, but this is not the case.
Leeds’ next five fixtures:
- Crystal Palace (H)
- Sunderland (A)
- Liverpool (A)
- Manchester United (H)
- Newcastle (A)
If the Whites want to prove the likes of Horward wrong, they will need to continue picking up these unexpected points against teams above them in the league table.
In two of their last three matches, Farke’s men have limited the opposition to under one expected goals, and this defensive resilience is likely to be tested even further in the coming weeks.
