Leeds United have been tipped to give their promotion aspirations an early boost by beating Championship rivals Burnley this weekend.
The Whites are one of the favourites to earn a place in the Premier League after falling at the final hurdle in the play-off final against Southampton last season. It was a bitter heartbreak for Daniel Farke’s team, who produced some stunning form in the second half of the campaign to take the 2023/24 promotion race to the final day.
Having suffered relegation from the top tier in 2023, Leeds initially struggled with life in the Championship. They were left playing catch up early on, winning just two of their opening seven fixtures. There were fears that history could repeat itself after they started this season with back-to-back draws, but they have followed that with excellent wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City.
This has seen Leeds move up to fourth, and they will be hoping to pick up from where they left off before the international break when they host Burnley in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
The Clarets are back in the second tier after a one-year absence following last season’s relegation. They began the campaign as one of the pre-season favourites to win the division. That tag seemed justified when they hit nine goals in their opening two games but have since stuttered with defeat at Sunderland before scraping a draw against local rivals Blackburn Rovers last time out.
Despite that, Leeds and Burnley are seen as two of the sides likely to be pushing for the title this season and Saturday’s clash at Elland Road could see the first blow landed by either side in the race. It’s one that Sky Sports pundit David Prutton expects the Yorkshire side to take. Speaking on the Championship Prediction Podcast, he said:
“As we chatted earlier on this week, they’re in a better position points-wise than they were this time last year, which ended up with them being on 90 points and just missing out on automatics.
“So early work looks promising, obviously making up for star players that moved on, that was their next challenge.
“You can say something similar with Burnley. I was impressed with the opening portion of their game against Blackburn, I was more impressed with Blackburn’s resilience when they went down to 10 men and managed the second half in that particular East Lancashire derby.
“So questions for them to answer, and a really, really cracking game so early in the season, because all the eyes are on these two, they’re expected to be at least in the top six if not the top two, and Saturday will see where they’re at with these works in progress.
“Close game, 2-1 Leeds.”
Writer’s View
This is an exciting game for the early stages of the new season. Whereas it’s too early to say it is season-defining, it is certainly one that could have a bearing on the final table. The Championship is a division in which small advantages count and both teams will be looking to make it count at Elland Road on Saturday.
Home advantage will make Leeds the favourites but in truth, this is a clash with two very evenly matched teams. Burnley may have faltered over the last two outings but showed their class in their wins over Luton and Cardiff. Alternatively, Leeds remain unbeaten and confidence will be high that they can extend that run and keep the pressure on leaders Sunderland.
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