Sam Allardyce will relish the opportunity to manage Leeds United from the home dugout at Elland Road this weekend. This Saturday’s clash with Newcastle United will be Allardyce’s second in the job after taking over from Javi Gracia at the start of the calendar month.
However, it will be his first United game on Yorkshire soil and he’ll no doubt be keen to see the famed raucous atmosphere have a positive influence on the game as his side chase three huge points. With just three Premier League games remaining, Leeds know a win over the Champions League-chasing Magpies would go a long way towards securing survival, taking them out of the bottom three for a couple of hours at the very least.
A defeat, though, and Leeds would be forced to watch the rest of the Premier League results trickle through over the rest of the weekend, knowing they are at risk being cut even further adrift. Allardyce is more than aware of the implications of Saturday’s result and the pressure is well and truly on at this stage of the campaign.
