da betsson： Over the last few weeks, the Championship has seen plenty of roles reversed. As Leeds United welcome Middlesbrough to Elland Road on Sunday afternoon, two sides with completely opposite trajectories will collide as they pass on their respective ways.
da roleta： In truth, though, this won’t just be a passing. On September 12th, Middlesbrough played out a dull 0-0 draw with Aston Villa which, at the time, looked to cement the fact that two of the biggest-spending sides in the division were going to have terrible, underwhelming seasons. Leeds, on the other hand, were top of the table.
Since then, the Whites have lost seven times, dropping to 10th place, and both Boro and Villa are now ahead of them in the table. And they are now the ones that look like the Championship’s most dangerous sides.
This weekend, then, we won’t just see two sides who have switched positions, but former Leeds boss Garry Monk will be returning to Elland Road, too. If he can haunt his former club, it’ll compound the feeling in almost every conceivable way: both Middlesbrough and Aston Villa can go six points clear of Leeds this weekend and even the play-offs could start to look a long way off.
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“The whole Leeds United team look nervous,” Sam Rourke, Editor-in-Chief of Football League World tells me. “Confidence is clearly not there, and the free-flowing, fluid attacking football that we saw earlier on in the season simply is nowhere to be seen at present.”
“What is most worrying is Leeds’ home record, and you get the impression that the Leeds players are not gambling on the ball and are playing it safe in front of an expectant, rowdy Elland Road crowd.”
If the optimism was tempered this season – partly thanks to the burnt fingers Leeds were dealt last May when Monk’s side threw away a play-off place, missing out by a disappointingly narrow margin – this season, so is the pessimism. Leeds fans are used to false dawns, but there have been much darker days than today.
“Christiansen is under immense pressure, there is no denying that – if Cellino was still in charge, Christiansen would have been axed a long time ago,” says Rourke. “Luckily for the Dane, Leeds are owned by the more sensible Andrea Radrizzani and he’ll give Christiansen more time to turn it round – but seven defeats in their last nine league games is relegation form, and that cannot continue.”
Despite the change in ownership, however, Leeds would do well not to go too far in the other direction, and Christiansen’s tough spell over the last month and a bit points to danger ahead.
Danger in the very near future, in fact. Sunday afternoon’s clash with Middlesbrough starts a run of four games in which Leeds face three daunting tests; after Boro come league leaders Wolves and the in-form Aston Villa.
“You have to feel a little sorry for Christiansen when you look at Leeds’ upcoming fixtures – It’s ridiculously hard,” says Rourke.
“With 32,000 set to be packed into Elland Road for a massive fixture with Garry Monk’s Boro on Sunday, I feel that game will set the tone for the rest of Leeds’ month and December. A win on Saturday would be colossal for Leeds, and ultimately re-instate that belief and confidence that we saw earlier on in the campaign.”
“Play-offs will still be the aim for Leeds, they are a huge club that really ought to be playing Premier League football – but it remains to be seen whether this Leeds United squad can handle the increased rigours and demands of the festive period in the second tier.”
Defeat, however, could signal impending disaster. Not only will Leeds fall adrift of the top six and started a run which could pile the pressure on over an already-demanding festive period, but they’ll also have failed to stop a team directly above them who will grow in confidence and belief to motor on to even better things.
“I get the impression that Middlesbrough are now fully hitting their stride, and will be the main challengers to Wolves and Sheffield United at the top,” says Rourke. “Garry Monk has finally got his expensive squad playing together as a cohesive unit, and they look incredibly organised.”
As if to rub salt into the wound, it’s Monk who is finally hitting the ground running at the North Yorkshire side, who still possess players like Martin Braithwaite, who quite clearly have the quality to play at a much higher level than the English second tier.
“They have quality in all areas of the pitch, and you have to say that most of the Boro substitutes bench would get into the starting elevens of most Championship sides,” says Rourke. “Their quality is finally coming to the fore.”
This Sunday, Leeds will need to show that they have the fighting quality to get something from this game in front of their own fans, not just because of the return of Monk and not just because of their position in the table. Momentum has well and truly been lost, but if they lose this one too, they could be setting themselves up for a very long winter.