Leeds United return to Elland Road tomorrow to take on Tottenham.
It feels like an age since our last home game, which was the 1-1 draw with Man United midway through October. Since then, we played out a 0-0 draw against Sunderland and lost 2-0 to Bournemouth.
Our last win was the unforgettable night against Newcastle under the lights back in September. But at the weekend, it will be a tough task to pick up three points.
After starting the season poorly, Roberto De Zerbi’s side have turned a corner as of late. Spurs are unbeaten in their last four games, winning their last three in this run.
Now, a BBC pundit has made his prediction for the game, with the pundit making a blunt admission regarding United.
Chris Sutton confident Leeds won’t beat Tottenham
Given how poor we’ve been in the final third recently, a win is much needed to change the rather flat feeling among the fanbase as of late.
However, Chris Sutton does not think that will come on Saturday.
In his latest Premier League predictions column for BBC Sport, the former striker is a believer that “bogey teams” exist.
Unfortunately, Spurs appear to be one of those sides for us.
“Tottenham always seem to do well against Leeds. They have only lost one of their past 15 meetings in the Premier League, going back almost 25 years,” Sutton said.
“I am a little bit of a believer that some teams always do well, or badly, against certain opposition or on certain grounds.
“So, I am definitely not going for Leeds to win this. But do I back Tottenham to win again and continue their good run?
“Roberto de Zerbi’s side have rocketed up the table on the back of three wins in a row. Although they were helped out a lot by Jean-Philippe Mateta’s red card in their victory over Crystal Palace last time out.
“Tottenham are flying at the moment, and their confidence is up. We are seeing a bit of a Spurs swagger for the first time in a long while. So, while I don’t think they will make it four wins in a row, I don’t see them being beaten, either.
“It’s likely to be a very tight game. Leeds were a bit unlucky to lose to Bournemouth last week, but their lack of goals is becoming an issue.”
Sutton then went on to predict a 1-1 draw between the two sides.
A draw would be a good result for Leeds United, but we need to look like more of an attacking threat
With Anton Stach and Noah Okafor likely to miss the game, as well as the fact that it’s a 12:30 kick-off, this game has stinker written all over it, and I’m not expecting much.
A draw would be a very good result against this in-form Spurs side, but we really must look like more of a threat going forward.
In our last five games, we’ve scored just two goals, and it can’t keep going on like this. (Sofascore)
With Okafor out, Dan James is likely to start. But if the Welshman does start, he should be on a very short leash with the manager.
If James isn’t impacting the game, which, with all due respect, is likely, we need to sub him off early in the second half.
Whether that’s for Okafor, if he’s fit enough to make the bench or for Jean-Matteo Bahoya.
Aside from that James Trafford mistake against Bournemouth, we looked solid defensively for most of the game, so hopefully we remain hard to break down. It’s just about finding that breakthrough.
