Here are the latest Leeds United morning headlines on Tuesday, 10 May.
Gray hope
Leeds United legend Eddie Gray believes his former side must take advantage of their two consecutive home games in order to stay up. The Whites face Chelsea and Brighton at Elland Road this week, which could go a long way to deciding the division they will be playing in next season.
Jesse Marsch’s side currently sit in the relegation zone with just three matches left to play and will need to better Burnley’s points total in order to stay up due to their inferior goal difference. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Gray is hopeful that Leeds will remain in the division but knows that these next two home games are crucial.
He said: “If I look at it with my white hat on, I think they’ll be OK. But if you look at it from the outside, it’s going to be tough. If they win their two home games coming up, they’ll probably survive.
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“That would give you 40 points and if you went down with that total, that would be a disaster. When you’re in a battle to stay up, the home games are important. We’ve got these two coming up and we’ve got to make the most of them.
“The crowd have been fantastic. The atmosphere at Elland Road this season has been as good as I’ve known it and the players have got to use that in a positive way.”
Bate chance
Leeds United fell to a 2-1 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday. The scoreline suggests a close game but the defeat was much more damaging than one might presume, as Luke Ayling was sent off in the first-half for a dangerous challenge on Gabriel Martinelli.
That sending off means that Leeds not only lost their captain-on-the-day but he will also miss the remainder of Leeds' Premier League fixtures. Of Jesse Marsch’s ‘leadership council’, that now means Ayling, Stuart Dallas and Adam Forshaw will all miss the rest of the season, while Liam Cooper and Patrick Bamford are still not yet fully fit.
As such, Jesse Marsch is facing the prospect of having to scramble for the Whites' Premier League future without the majority of those experienced heads on the field. But with that in mind, he could turn to a young player who performed admirably in a difficult situation on Sunday in Lewis Bate. The Chelsea academy product was brought on for Mateusz Klich and he showed that while he is not going to be a vocal leader like Cooper, Dallas or Ayling can be, he will step up and take responsibility on the ball.
Neville warning
Leeds United are now odds-on to be relegated from the Premier League after another damaging weekend. Everton climbed out of the bottom three with consecutive victories as they defeated Leicester, whilst Leeds lost 2-1 at Arsenal, in a game Luke Ayling was sent off in and subsequently suspended for the final three matches of the season.
Gary Neville has fired a warning to Leeds about their position, as well as the potential consequences should they drop back to the Championship after two seasons away. Speaking on his podcast, he said : "I fear for Leeds I really do. They are favourites to go down. Everything that could go wrong, Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling, the spirit and energy of the club, is not there. They are massive players. What Ayling has done will cost them.
"We'll see what happens. But we've got a title race, a good top-four race and a compelling yet awful relegation battle.”
