Neil Warnock makes hilarious Leeds United and Burnley joke after Sheffield United nightmare
Leeds United head to Turf Moor this evening with a massive opportunity to pull clear at the top of the Championship.
Neil Warnock has joked that Leeds United and Burnley will ‘probably agree to draw’ this evening’s top-of-the-table clash after seeing their promotion rivals drop points.
Leeds have the chance to open up a significant gap on their main rivals this evening, with victory at Turf Moor pulling them four points clear of second-placed Sheffield United and six clear of Burnley in third. Regardless of tonight’s result, Daniel Farke’s side are virtually guaranteed to end another gameweek at the top of the Championship, with only an eight-goal Clarets victory changing that.
Many would have seen the past weekend as an opportunity for the likes of Sheffield United and Sunderland to gain ground on their rivals, with both at home to bottom three opposition. But Chris Wilder’s Blades suffered a shock 3-0 defeat to Hull City while Plymouth Argyle nicked a point from the Stadium of Light with a 90th-minute equaliser.
Leeds weekend boost
Friday night’s Bramall Lane encounter was the major surprise, with Sheffield United well beaten and deserving of the defeat. Former Leeds manager Warnock was on punditry duty in South Yorkshire and in somewhat typical fashion, had his colleagues in stitches with a suggestion of how Monday’s Turf Moor clash might play out.
"Listen, they [Sheffield United] will be mad with it but in two days time they will be onto the next game,” Warnock told Sky Sports following Friday’s surprise result. “They’ll be happy won’t they, Burnley and Leeds? They’ll probably agree to have a draw on Monday without playing!"
That joke came before Sunderland’s disappointing Saturday afternoon, a result which will only provide further encouragement for Leeds and Burnley going into this evening’s table-topping clash, The Black Cats had come from behind with two goals in 12 minutes but Nathanael Ogbeta nicked a crucial point for the rock-bottom Pilgrims.
And so Leeds can head across the Pennines knowing they will almost certainly be top come full-time at Turf Moor, although few will settle for that fact in the aftermath of defeat. Burnley are the only team to win at Elland Road this season and Daniel Farke will be desperate to ensure they can’t do the double on his side.
Farke on Burnley
“Yes, it’s a spotlight game, especially more or less for the outside world and then also, of course, for the supporters and the press, the TV, that's also quite normal,” the Leeds boss admitted on Friday. “The team who is sitting top of the league plays against one of the top sides, and there's always a bit more spotlight on it, and rightly so, so there's no doubt about this.
“Overall, it's, if I'm honest, just one of 46 games, and just another chance also to add one or three points for both teams and for that we don't have to over-interpret too much into it. But Burnley are definitely one of the top sides in this division. They played last season in the Premier League, they are also one of the big favourites to be there with promotion.
“They have an excellent squad, many, many experienced players, individual quality, a very experienced manager who knows what it takes in order to promote to the Premier League. They are ambitious, they have a really strong side, really good in defending. We are looking forward to a good game.”