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Paul Merson predicts result of Leeds United Premier League clash v Manchester City
Paul Merson has been raving over Sam Allardyce but does not see him guiding Leeds United to victory against Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side are fighting for the league title and while it’s all in hands, they still need to win their remaining games, maybe dropping a couple of points along the way.
While drawing to Leeds may see them lose their top spot come the end of the weekend, Merson does not see this happening.
He told Sportskeeda, “It does become a harder game now that Sam Allardyce is in charge, but it still won’t make much of a difference. Leeds will be kicking themselves for not making this decision before Bournemouth, as that could make all the difference at the end of the season. I just don’t see anything but a Manchester City win, it just remains to be seen how many they win by.
“Erling Haaland’s record-breaking season has definitely been one for the history books, but I still feel Lionel Messi will get his hands on the 2023 Ballon d’Or. Despite the Norwegian’s heroics in front of goal, Messi just needs to put his boots on for the rest of the season and he’ll get his hands on the award for the eighth time in his career as he won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“If Manchester City win the treble, it might become a bit interesting, but my personal opinion is that Messi has already won it after captaining Argentina to World Cup glory at the end of last year. If Haaland wins the treble and still misses out on the Ballon d’Or, he’ll be incredibly unlucky, that much I will say.
“Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Leeds United”
Park the bus for 90 minutes?
Allardyce is very likely to return to basics at Elland Road, especially against a side like City that will dominate possession.
He’s going to make this Leeds defence more compact and harder to break down, but that’s still not enough against a Guardiola team.
Hopefully, they manage to frustrate the Citizens and pose some threats on the counter attack as there are a number of players in this team capable of hitting teams on the break.
Big Sam will have worked with this team over the past few days so he surely has a basic idea about the strengths and weaknesses.
He’s also been watching Leeds on the TV and has made points about Willy Gnonto so he’s one player we can expect to start.
It remains to be seen what team he puts out and how they respond to a City side that’s going to make things extremely hard.
In other Leeds United news, an exit-bound senior player was spotted in tears after what happened recently.