Here are your Leeds United morning headlines on Thursday, March 24.
Hutchison makes 'mad' Leeds claim
Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison believes that 'nothing has really changed' in Leeds United's pursuit of staying in the Premier League. This is even after the Whites secured successive wins over Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Jesse Marsch has made Leeds more defensively resolute in recent matches and those victories have given them a seven-point buffer between them and the relegation zone. And Hutchison has admitted that they still have work to do in the battle to stay up.
"Not yet (safe), but back-to-back wins has given them an unbelievable chance," Hutchison told Premier League Productions. "They still have a little bit of work to do.
READ MORE: Leeds United relegation rivals Burnley and Everton's games in hand including huge 'six-pointers'
"Nothing really has changed because this was still a Bielsa team that was chaotic. Still mad and brilliant.
"Jesse Marsch has just sort of carried that trait on. So, Leeds fans must be buzzing."
Latest Leeds prediction
FiveThirtyEight have released their latest forecast for how they think the Premier League is likely to finish. The website uses statistical analysis to tell stories about several different topics, including sport, and more specifically the Premier League.
Based on the season so far and the data that has been presented, Leeds United are expected to build on their back-to-back victories by securing their top-flight status. The Whites are expected to finish on 37 points, three points ahead of 18th place Burnley, who have been predicted to go down alongside Norwich City and Watford.
Jesse Marsch's side have a 23% chance of relegation in comparison to Burnley's 51%, which shows the magnitude of the recent victories, as only two weeks ago, Leeds were more likely to go down than the Clarets according to FiveThirtyEight. Everton are the team most at risk of dropping into the bottom three, as they have been predicted to finish 17th, two points above the bottom three.
There is now very little chance Brentford or Newcastle United will go down with the former now standing just a 7% chance of relegation, and the latter even less at just 4%. Leeds and the Bees are set to go head-to-head on the final day of the season, which still has the potential to be a crucial game.
Leeds United should benefit from the Illan Meslier alarm
While the news clippings around Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha increase through the international break’s quiet news cycle, the other big-ticket item in the Leeds United armoury is recovering. Illan Meslier is in France and the longer the wait goes on for any announcement, the clearer it seems the goalkeeper is backing himself to play for the under-21s this fortnight.
Whatever happens with his national team, Meslier will hopefully be fit enough to retain his starting spot for United’s clash with Southampton next weekend and continue his 100 per cent attendance record in the Premier League this season. That exposure at the highest level for a 22-year-old stopper is what puts him towards the top of most shopping lists when Europe’s biggest clubs begin to assess the next crop of elite goalkeepers.
While Raphinha and Phillips are further along in their football journeys and look good enough for that next step, this season’s statistics suggest Meslier may need a little more maturing. Goalkeepers do not tend to peak until they are in their 30s. Meslier has a lot of time on his side.
While the team has looked remarkably open at times this season, with the biggest shipment of goals conceded across the division, the statistics would suggest Meslier should have actually saved more than he has done. There has been sympathy at points for what the French stopper has had to face when his defence has opened like the Red Sea, but the numbers suggest he should have prevented more goals than he has done.
