Leeds United eye fresh survival milestone vs Burnley with historic West Ham benchmark in sight
Leeds United have the chance to further increase their points tally at Elland Road on Friday.
Leeds United are routinely ticking off their Premier League survival milestones and could hit another big one with victory over Burnley on Friday night.
Daniel Farke’s side will feel they are within touching distance of survival after recovering from a mini-blip as February turned to March. Since back-to-back home defeats against Manchester City and Sunderland, they’ve gone five unbeaten in the league, claiming nine points and keeping three clean sheets in the process.
A 2-1 win at Manchester United will be the season highlight for many but two results since have been of equal psychological importance. A commanding 3-0 win over Wolves ensured Leeds would surpass their point-per-game average target while a dramatic 2-2 draw at Bournemouth last week took them up to the hallowed 40-point mark.
Those are the two milestones Farke has often mentioned when discussing survival aims but in this most competitive of scraps, neither could be enough. That Leeds are still being discussed in relation to the relegation battle suggests this could border on a historic season at the bottom end.
Only once in 20-team Premier League history has a team picked up more points than Leeds’ current tally and still been relegated. During the 2002/03 campaign, current bottom three rivals West Ham collected 42 points on their way to the Championship, while Sunderland and Bolton have both finished 18th on 40.
While that goes to show it’s not impossible to face relegation even beyond the magic 40-point mark, it does paint a picture of just how close Leeds are. Should the most competitive ever campaign in Premier League history be matched, Farke’s side are still just one win away from safety.
Leeds host second-bottom and already relegated Burnley at Elland Road on Friday night, with revenge on the mind following their 2-0 Turf Moor defeat in October. Scott Parker’s side have lost their last four games and won just one of their previous 25 in the league.
Leeds United win could see survival guaranteed at Tottenham
Victory on Friday for Leeds would put them onto 43 points, a tally good enough to stay up in every previous 20-team Premier League season. It would also, crucially, open up an almost unassailable lead on current relegation favourites Tottenham.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side head to Aston Villa on Sunday and could do so nine points behind Leeds. Defeat at Villa Park would keep that points gap the same, with just three games left to play and an inferior goal difference.
In that instance, Leeds would need to lose all of their final three games while Tottenham win three in a row - an unlikely event, given the latter have won just once since December. It would also hand Farke’s side the chance to mathematically guarantee survival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in their next fixture.
Leeds already boast a points cushion that stops Burnley on Friday from being a must-win, albeit dropped points at home to the league’s second-worst team would raise concerns. Should they put another three on the board, however, even the most pessimistic can start looking ahead to the summer.