Roy Keane and Gary Neville agree on 'dreadful' Leeds United relegation verdict with Aston Villa prediction
Leeds United have dropped closer towards the relegation zone after consecutive away defeats.
Roy Keane has predicted Leeds United to be relegated following a ‘dreadful’ performance against Nottingham Forest before the international break.
Leeds fell to their fourth defeat in five games at the City Ground almost two weeks ago despite going ahead early through Lukas Nmecha. The Whites conceded an equaliser through Ibrahim Sangare just 90 seconds later before second-half goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson.
Defeat left Daniel Farke’s side one point above the relegation zone and was enough for some sections of the fanbase to call for his exit. Leeds have opted against such a decision and so the German will be in charge when in-form Aston Villa head to Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.
Leeds haven’t yet been in the Premier League relegation zone but with results slipping and current bottom three sides starting to improve, it’s looking dangerous as many expected it would. And that performance at the City Ground was seemingly enough for Keane to make his mind up on their fate.
“Leeds are going down, yeah,” Keane told The Overlap. “They were dreadful against Forest.” The former Manchester United midfielder then predicted Villa to win 1-0 on Sunday.
Farke’s side have looked competitive in the majority of games this season, at least up until those back-to-back defeats at Brighton and Forest. Elland Road has been particularly fruitful with points taken from Everton, Newcastle, Bournemouth and West Ham so far.
That opening-night win over Everton came after a dominant performance in which Leeds completely overran their opponents, eventually claiming all three points via a late Nmecha penalty. But there were already issues regarding chance creation and finishing which have not gone away.
Gary Neville agrees with Roy Keane on Leeds United relegation verdict
The Whites have failed to score in five of their 11 league games, with a tally of 10 goals only better than rock-bottom, winless Wolves. Keane’s former Manchester United teammate Gary Neville also predicted Leeds to draw a blank against Villa, this time losing 2-0 on Sunday - he also tipped them for relegation.
“I said Leeds were going down after watching them on the first game of the season, even though they beat Everton,” Neville added. “I thought ‘that’s not right that’. Everton were shocking that night but I just thought Leeds were (shakes head).”
Farke will hope to prove both former players wrong, starting this weekend when Leeds host Villa. The Whites have been strong at home but face arguably their toughest test yet, with Unai Emery’s side in great form having won five of their last six in the Premier League.
Leeds’ next few weeks of action is looking tricky but their potential saving grace is the fact three of their next four games are at home. Farke’s side head to title contenders Manchester City next weekend but then host Chelsea and Liverpool, both of whom have experienced some early-season teething issues.
Pressure is starting to grow on Farke, however, and even with a very difficult run of games to come, there margin for error is decreasing and he will still need to take points. A run of four straight defeats would surely see Leeds fall into the relegation zone.