Leeds United backed for success against Everton by Sky Sports pundit
Leeds United travel to Merseyside tomorrow (Saturday 12 February) to face a crucial fight in the battle to survive relegation against fellow strugglers Everton.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side are just six points clear of the drop after their thrilling 3-3 draw at Aston Villa in midweek but the Toffees are in even bigger trouble.
Frank Lampard couldn’t get his Goodison Park reign off to a winning start away at Newcastle as they were dragged into the fight by the Magpies, losing 3-1 in the Northeast.
In his weekly Yorkshire Evening Post column, Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has backed Leeds to pile the misery on the Toffees.
“I fancy Leeds to go and win from what I saw of Everton (against Newcastle),” Prutton said. “I think it’s a good time for Leeds to play them. Dele Alli got on the pitch for Everton against Newcastle and seemed to need to get back up to speed.
“Donny van de Beek got on too and didn’t do too much harm going forward and they had problems in defence because it was a defence to be got at.
“What Leeds do at their absolute best is suffocate the life out of the opposition and don’t give them a minute’s peace which was what Newcastle did in big parts of that game against Everton on Tuesday.
“But this is an Everton side that is there for the taking and Leeds need to make sure that’s the case.”
No mercy
The Premier League is not the place to show pity towards anybody and the Whites can not afford to do so at Goodison Park on Saturday.
From the very first seconds of the game, Leeds have to get on top of the Everton players and stamp their authority on the match.
Not only will they likely score early given the Toffees’ defensive struggles in recent weeks, but it may also get the famously short-tempered Everton fans on the backs of the players, compounding their problems.
As Prutton rightly mentions, Leeds’ phliosophy fits exactly into what Everton don’t want to happen and that will give the players great confidence when they head to Merseyside.
More of what they did at Villa Park would be ideal because you get the feeling that Lampard’s confidence-ridden Everton won’t be able to cope like Steven Gerrard’s Villa did.
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