Former Aston Villa and Leicester City midfielder Lee Hendrie has tipped Leeds United to finish inside the automatic promotion places and for Ipswich Town to eventually fall by the wayside.
The Peacocks had been in tremendous form up until Tuesday night’s clash away at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland. A late Jobe Bellingham goal dealt a blow to Leeds’ hopes of clinching a spot in the top two, whilst Kieran McKenna’s side got the job done at Vicarage Road.
🏴⚽️ Jobe Bellingham (18) with a crucial goal to give Sunderland the 3 points vs Leeds! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/eOJtRQuMKN
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) December 13, 2023
A goal from Sam Morsy ten minutes from the end moved the Tractor Boys to the top of the Championship, albeit with Leicester still needing to play at home to Millwall on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, Ipswich are now on a four-game winning streak and have opened up the gap between themselves and Leeds United to ten points, with the East Anglian Derby still to come this weekend, as well as a trip to Elland Road next week and a visit from promotion rivals Leicester City in a fortnight.
These next three games could potentially decide Ipswich’s season. Winning all three would put the Blues in a favourable position to clinch promotion back to the Premier League while failing to win any would give the likes of Leeds and Southampton a chance to catch up.
Speaking before Leeds’ clash with Sunderland on Tuesday night, pundit Lee Hendrie has compared Daniel Farke’s Whites with Ipswich and has predicted the latter to eventually drop out of the top two [quotes via East Anglian Daily Times]:
“I’m one of them thinking that Ipswich might just fall away and I think that if anyone (will catch them), you can pretty much see that Leeds have been brilliant.
“I think that Leeds will catch Ipswich, I really do. I just feel that if anyone’s going to run out of steam, that will be the team that will,” he continued.
“But it is the Championship, and the stats speak for themselves with the way Leeds have been this season, they’ve been a joy to watch.”
“They’re great to watch. They’re very similar (to Ipswich) aren’t they? They play on the front foot, they score goals and they’ve got a fantastic identity.
Writer’s View
Winning two of their next three games in the league would go a long way to silence any chat that Ipswich Town are punching above their weight. However, two or potentially even three defeats could cause McKenna’s rocket ship to come crashing back down to earth.
Nevertheless, Leeds have still been excellent but it is of paramount importance that Farke’s side become more consistent away from home if they are to overleap the Tractor Boys and finish inside the automatic promotion spots. The draw against Rotherham United and the defeat last night to Sunderland show a lot of work still needs to be done on that front.
Deputy Head of Writing
