Leeds United are still six points above the relegation zone, even after slipping to a narrow 1–0 defeat at home to Manchester City on Saturday.
Results elsewhere worked in their favour, with West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham all losing over the weekend, meaning Leeds remain 15th in the Premier League standings.
Attention now turns to the visit of Sunderland to Elland Road, though there’s already a setback for the hosts. Daniel Farke will be absent from the touchline after being sent off at the end of the Manchester City game, leaving him to serve a suspension for the upcoming fixture.
However, last weekend’s results have ensured that Leeds remain above water in the survival race, and Alan Shearer has provided his thoughts on what could transpire from now until the end of the season.
Alan Shearer makes his feelings clear about the race to survive in the Premier League
Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards were discussing the fight at the bottom of the Premier League table on the Rest Is Football podcast.
While reflecting on Liverpool’s win over West Ham, the conversation turned to a bigger question: Do West Ham have any real chance of dragging themselves out of the bottom three before the season ends?
Shearer stressed that unless West Ham improves defensively, they are unlikely to survive in the Premier League this season.
He feels West Ham are doing better in attack, but believes they are defensively too weak to climb out of the bottom three in the final months of the campaign.
Shearer said when asked about whether West Ham can climb out of the bottom three: “Unless they stop conceding goals, no.
“In general play, there are plenty of positives; they are getting into good positions and scoring a couple of goals.
“But defensively, they just look really, really weak, and unless that improves, they are not going to get out of it.
“I also look at their fixture list; they probably got the toughest one.”
The Whites seem better than every team below them
Leeds were left genuinely frustrated by Saturday’s defeat to Manchester City, and in many ways, that reaction says everything about how far they’ve come this season.
With West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham struggling to put points on the board, Leeds’ six-point lead seems decisive at this stage of the season.
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 |  Leeds United |
28 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 37 | 47 | -10 | 31 |
| 16 |  Tottenham Hotspur |
28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 38 | 43 | -5 | 29 |
| 17 |  Nottingham Forest |
28 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 26 | 41 | -15 | 27 |
| 18 |  West Ham United |
28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 34 | 54 | -20 | 25 |
| 19 |  Burnley |
28 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 32 | 56 | -24 | 19 |
| 20 |  Wolverhampton Wanderers |
29 | 2 | 7 | 20 | 20 | 51 | -31 | 13 |
A win over Sunderland on Tuesday night could be decisive, as it could put the Whites beyond the reach of West Ham, who are occupying the final relegation spot.
Forest and Tottenham appear far more realistic targets for West Ham at this stage than Leeds, who have looked defensively solid and capable of going toe to toe with anyone in the league.
