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‘I don’t quite understand’ – Phil Hay delivers scathing verdict ahead of Leeds United’s trip to Newcastle

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Leeds United are preparing to face Newcastle United next week and they couldn’t be playing the Magpies at a better time, according to Phil Hay.

Leeds have been breathtaking to watch at times this season, with every game gripping from start to finish, even if results haven’t gone our way each week.

The same can’t be said on Tyneside as Steve Bruce continues to trudge through another relegation scrap at St James’ Park.

While we might still hold lingering fears of being sucked into that battle, entertainment is ingrained in our style and will stand us in much better stead for games to come.

Since we trounced the Magpies 5-2 at Elland Road back in December, they have spiralled even further down the table and look in serious threat of being caught by the bottom three soon.

The fear of not knowing where the next win is coming from is something we’ve seen before in our relegations but that’s not a mentality that even comes into consideration under Bielsa.

Four points separate us and Newcastle heading into Tuesday’s fixture and Phil Hay believes that Leeds should be expecting to go to St James’ and come back with maximum points.

He provided this opinion on the Phil Hay Show podcast on the state of affairs as Leeds make their way to the North East next week

“The next team to lose to Newcastle are going to seriously get it in the neck from their own support, in the way that Newcastle did down at Sheffield United.

“Even though Sheffield United looked considerably better than them on the night, you’re still talking about the worst team in the Premier League turning over Newcastle.

“I think as it stands at the moment, there would be a lot of people who are classing Newcastle as the current worst side in the Premier League.

“You are looking for Leeds to go there and play well and you’re looking for Leeds to go there and win.

“You mentioned Leeds under Bates and I think that’s a really good comparison.

“There were lots of periods of that where Leeds weren’t a shambles but they weren’t quite doing anything.

Pointless is the word I’d use, at the moment I don’t quite understand what the point of Newcastle is.

I’ve written about the difference in ambition between Leeds and Newcastle at the moment, and why Leeds’ positive approach is something to marvel at.

It might not mean we got to St James’ and get the three points, but in the long run, I’d rather our style over the lack thereof at Newcastle.

I’m expecting that we’ll go there and get a result given the form of both sides, but Newcastle have to come out of this rut somehow and they’ll be eager to get back to winning ways.

We’ve shown already against Steve Bruce’s men that we’ve got what it takes to give them the runaround and you’d expect the same spread of possession and chances this time around.

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Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.