Leeds United relegation boost guaranteed before Newcastle as Gary Neville makes 'toxic' admission
One of Leeds United's key Premier League relegation rivals are guaranteed to drop points before Wednesday's trip to St James' Park.
Gary Neville believes a ‘really strong’ Leeds United will continue to pick up points with West Ham’s main Premier League relegation rivals coming from elsewhere.
Leeds extended their unbeaten run to seven games with a 1-1 draw against Neville’s former side Manchester United on Sunday. A point felt about right with Matheus Cunha cancelling out Brenden Aaronson’s 62nd-minute opener in a game that lacked the ferocity of historic meetings.
That Leeds were disappointed with the result says a lot about their growing confidence and the point actually increased their cushion on 18th-placed West Ham, who handed rock-bottom Wolves their first win of the season on Saturday. The Hammers have now gone nine without victory and pressure is growing on manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who only took over from Graham Potter in September.
While no one at Leeds will become complacent, their eight-point gap on West Ham is significant and on current form, is far more likely to be extended than reduced with Nottingham Forest closest to the drop. Sean Dyche’s side travel to the London Stadium on Tuesday and ahead of that massive bottom-of-the-table clash, Neville has had his say on the fight to survive.
“When I saw that [Wolves’ win] coming through yesterday I was like ‘oh’, that was a bad one for West Ham,” Neville told his Sky Sports podcast. “The thing about West Ham at the moment is that everything seems quite toxic. Everything feels like it’s just not right.
“They’ve been down before, and they’ll go down again, and it may be this season, but Tuesday can have a big influence on that. If they can drag Nottingham Forest back down there.
Gary Neville positive about Leeds United
“Leeds at the moment look really strong, they look like they’re going to pick up points by the way in which they’re playing, their togetherness and their physicality. But you’re going to have to drag a couple down with you if you are West Ham, you have to pull a couple back, what you can’t do is become cut adrift.
“Wolves and Burnley, you feel like they’re going to really struggle to get out of it. But West Ham, you do feel could do some business in January, they’ve got a manager who has done this before. Can they pull Nottingham Forest back? Can they somehow reel someone else in?”
That meeting between West Ham and Nottingham Forest is set to be a huge one, not just for the two participants but Leeds too. At least one key relegation rival is guaranteed to drop points on Tuesday night and Daniel Farke’s side will know who before they head to Newcastle United 24 hours later.
Farke and his squad will be solely focused on their own business but there are arguments for any result at the London Stadium benefitting them. Defeat for West Ham will only compound the toxicity in London while keeping the points cushion at eight points minimum, while a sixth consecutive Forest loss would see them and the Hammers fighting one another for 17th at present.