Leeds United learn New Year's Day fate in big Premier League relegation boost amid West Ham & Forest blows
Leeds United watched all their Premier League relegation rivals in action ahead of Thursday’s trip to Liverpool.
Leeds United will enter 2026 with the chance to pull nine points clear of the Premier League relegation zone following results elsewhere on Tuesday night.
Leeds face Liverpool at Anfield on New Year’s Day looking to build on an impressive five-game unbeaten run which included a dramatic 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture. Goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach and Ao Tanaka helped the Whites come from 2-0 and 3-2 down to claim a brilliant point and they’ll be hoping for a similar performance on Thursday.
That Anfield clash is among the second group of fixtures this Premier League gameweek, with matches split either side of New Year’s Eve celebrations. And Leeds will have had a keen eye on Tuesday’s action with all of their key relegation rivals taking to the pitch - and all dropping points.
West Ham currently look the most likely to be fighting Leeds for 17th place and they dropped points at home to Brighton overnight, drawing 2-2 despite twice taking the lead. Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta scored first-half goals for the Hammers which were cancelled out by Danny Welbeck and Joel Veltman respectively.
It could have been worse for West Ham, however, with Welbeck bizarrely attempting a panenka penalty at 1-1 which struck the crossbar. The point leaves Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in 18th, extending their winless run to eight games and leaving them six short of Leeds in 16th.
Points dropped for all of Leeds United’s relegation rivals
And they might see that as an opportunity missed, with their closest positional rivals Nottingham Forest losing 2-0 at home to Everton. Sean Dyche’s side conceded either side of half-time at an increasingly frustrated City Ground and have now lost three on the bounce, leaving them four points clear of West Ham and two short of Leeds.
"Three games ago people were saying we were brilliant, so that's how the storyline changes,” Dyche admitted, with his side seemingly unable to climb clear of trouble. “We have got to change that the other way, and that's the biggest challenge.
"It is dealing with expectation as well. We have risen to the big games, then the ones where the expectation changes to being on us it is a case of can we go again? Can you step on again? A couple of times we haven't done that. Finding consistency, in everything you do, is the next step."
Bournemouth also dropped points following their 2-2 draw at Chelsea and are now without a win in 10 games. The result leaves them three points clear of Leeds, who could actually climb above them and into 15th in the somewhat unlikely event they win by two clear goals at Anfield.
A little further down the table, Burnley’s winless run extended to a 10th game after losing 3-1 at home to Newcastle United, having made several crucial errors. The 19th-placed Clarets are eight points shy of Leeds in 16th and on Tuesday confirmed captain Josh Cullen would be out for a ‘prolonged period’ with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Rock-bottom Wolves are still without a single win all season but at least took a rare point from Old Trafford, drawing 1-1 against Manchester United. That ended a 12-game losing run across all competitions but Rob Edwards’ side remain 15 points from safety and a significant 17 points short of Leeds.