Leeds United backed to produce Elland Road 'cracker' vs Sheffield United as Leicester City example set
Elland Road will be back under the lights for Friday’s Yorkshire derby and Leeds United could go top of the Championship.
David Prutton expects both Leeds United and Sheffield United to rise to the occasion on Friday evening, with the former midfielder unable to separate the two promotion contenders.
Leeds welcome their Yorkshire rivals to Elland Road knowing victory would see them climb into the automatic promotion spots in place of their visitors. Daniel Farke’s side were set for three points at Sunderland a fortnight ago before Illan Meslier’s mistake, but have enjoyed a much-improved start to the season compared to 12 months ago.
Sheffield United can boast the best start, however, remaining unbeaten and level on points with top-of-the-table Sunderland, despite starting the campaign on minus two points. The Blades were rocked by tragic news of former player George Baldock’s passing during the international break, with Chris Wilder admitting the Greek international would have loved what looks set to be a fierce clash.
“A cracking game to get the Championship back up and running,” Prutton told Sky Sports’ Championship Predictions podcast. “Plenty of time for Leeds to chew on that [their draw at Sunderland] and plenty of time for Sheffield United to concentrate on their unbeaten run - obviously tempered with the horrendous news about George Baldock.
“I’m hoping this game becomes something where the result is… not irrelevant, but not important. The approach from everyone involved, hopefully, is absolutely in the right manner. You’ll have two teams going absolutely at it, attacking the game like George Baldock would attack it and I sincerely hope both sets of fans get stuck into what that is.
“You’ve got a team who are unbeaten, you’ve got a team with a wonderful defensive record and you’ve got a team in Leeds United who were so close to being right at the top of the league come the international break, but for that mistake by Illan Meslier. It’s set up to be a cracker, any game at Elland Road under the lights, especially on a Friday night, is wonderful.
“Memories of last season where they played Leicester and weren’t good for 60 or 70 minutes but won, and were singing all the way round at the end. It was just the most wonderful atmosphere. I’m going to go to Leeds United 2-2 Sheffield United.”
Farke will be desperate to claim all three points from a promotion rival, something he hasn’t yet managed to do this season. Leeds have played four of the current top-seven already but picked up just three points, losing at home to Burnley with draws at Norwich City, Sunderland and West Brom.
While all three were decent points in isolation, Leeds will have to start beating those around them if they want to cement a top-two spot. The Whites follow Friday’s derby with a trip to sixth-place Watford, and results in both will put them in an excellent position going into a more favourable run of fixtures.