There were plenty of positives to be taken from the announcement of the Premier League fixtures for Leeds United. There were, of course, negatives as well but optimism can still be taken from any potential setbacks that were discovered on Thursday morning.
For example, despite the end-of-season run-in looking tough, there are fixtures in April that the Whites can feasibly take potentially vital points from. That positivity can also be reflected when looking at one of the toughest fixtures on paper: the visit of Manchester City to Elland Road on Boxing Day.
That game the day after Christmas Day will be very different to other years as it will be the first round of fixtures back after the conclusion of the winter World Cup. It also won’t precede the usual fixture that is sandwiched between Boxing Day and the New Year’s round of games.
