Here are the latest Leeds United morning headlines on Saturday, April 9.
Key day in relegation battle
This weekend’s Premier League action was always going to have a huge bearing on the relegation battle with a few of the teams towards the bottom facing each other. From a Leeds perspective, their visit to Vicarage Road will, of course, be the priority but supporters will be keeping an eye on results elsewhere.
On Friday evening, Newcastle took a huge step away from the bottom three with their 1-0 win against Wolves which took them 10 points clear of 18 th -placed Burnley. Attention then turns to Goodison Park where Everton are hosting Manchester United in the early kick-off, a game that could quite easily go either way.
Read more: Leeds United could see Jesse Marsch deliver what Marcelo Bielsa failed to this season
Burnley and Norwich will be hoping that they are both still within touching distance following results today as they prepare to do battle at 2pm tomorrow at Carrow Road. If they are to have any chance of pulling off the near-impossible, the Canaries must take all three points against Sean Dyche’s side.
Ashton expects Leeds to all-but secure safety with Watford win
It is no understatement to claim that a Leeds win today against Watford would be the club’s biggest result since returning to the Premier League. It would take the Whites nine points clear of the drop zone ahead of Norwich and Burnley’s six-pointer tomorrow.
Dean Ashton has claimed that Jesse Marsch’s side will have too much intensity for the Hornets as they look for a big step in the right direction. He told talkSPORT : “I look at what Roy is trying to do at Watford, he is desperately trying to turn them into what Palace were, which is a real low block defence and midfield. Then a little bit of pace and magic on the counter attack.
"But I think Leeds are going to win this game because I think Leeds will swarm all over them. I don't think that Watford, or that defence, is good enough.
"I have seen enough from Leeds, I know they haven't exactly picked up the results they probably would've liked. They are another one of those sides that another win and that just gives you enough.”
Read the rest of what he had to say here.
Leeds hoping to take advantage of Watford home form
Home form is usually one of the few things that relegation-threatened teams hang on to, especially in the final few games of the season. However, that hasn’t been the case for Watford who have been in rotten form at Vicarage Road all season.
They have picked up just seven points at home this term, winning twice, drawing once and losing on 11 occasions from their 14 matches. No team in the Premier League – not even Norwich – have picked up fewer home points.
That being said, Watford have got a decent home record against Leeds having won each of the last three games they have played against the Whites at Vicarage Road. While that doesn’t actually mean anything given the seasons in which those matches were played, Hornets fans will be trying to hang on to any positives they can find.
Read all of the other key stats ahead of today’s game here.
