'Be very careful' - Gabby Agbonlahor's relegation warning after what he saw during Burnley vs Leeds United
Leeds United fell to their fourth Premier League defeat of the campaign at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Former striker Gabby Agbonlahor has sent a relegation warning to three Premier League strugglers after seeing Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland’s recent performances.
Leeds fell to arguably their most disappointing defeat of the season on Saturday, with goals either side of half-time from Lesley Ugochukwu and Loum Tchaouna enough to hand hosts Burnley all three points. The Clarets have now beaten both of their newly-promoted rivals, having defeated Sunderland by the same scoreline in August.
That victory pulled Burnley up to 17th and all three newly-promoted sides are currently outside of the relegation zone, with Leeds in 15th and Sunderland flying high in seventh. All three have shown an ability to cause problems for established Premier League outfits as well, with the likes of Everton, Brentford and Wolves and Nottingham Forest beaten.
The latter pair currently occupy two of the bottom three places, with West Ham in there too - the Hammers have a game in hand but must beat Brentford by four clear goals tonight if they want to go above Burnley. And former Aston Villa star Agbonlahor has warned those established teams they are unlikely to be let off by a trio or terrible newly-promoted sides come May.
“They could [avoid relegation], they really could,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT of the three newly-promoted teams. “Especially when you look at the way Burnley grafted. They didn’t care about Leeds having the ball. They let them have the ball.
“This is the problem for some of the teams down there. This isn’t like previous seasons where the promoted teams are going straight back down. Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland will all fancy themselves to stay up. So if you’re Forest, West Ham and Wolves, be very careful.”
Leeds United aiming to beat Premier League ‘curse’
All three newly-promoted teams were tipped to go straight back down by many, thanks in part to the performances of those who went before them. All of the last six teams to come up from the Championship have gone straight back down, with the likes of Southampton, Leicester City and Sheffield United enduring miserable top-flight returns.
Daniel Farke has regularly labelled that trend a ‘curse’ this season but it looks more likely to be broken this time round than either 2023/24 or 2024/25, with all of Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland currently outside the bottom three. Others are struggling, with Forest and West Ham United both changing managers already and Wolves still without a win.
Defeat at Burnley was a disappointing one for Leeds but they have the opportunity to bounce back quickly on Friday, with one of those established strugglers due at Elland Road. West Ham United are in action at home to Brentford this evening before heading north to kick off the upcoming weekend’s Premier League action.
Farke will hope to welcome back at least one of last weekend’s Turf Moor absentees, particularly with attacking options so short. Willy Gnonto and Noah Okafor were both sidelined for the 2-0 defeat while despite recovering early from an ankle injury, Dan James was only fit enough for a second-half substitute appearance.