Leeds United have received a huge promotion boost ahead of the Sunday’s Championship clash at Cardiff City. The west Yorkshire outfit were in superb form before the coronavirus shutdown with five successive victories without conceding and they will be hoping to continue the streak when their season recommences at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Prior to that, however, they have received a welcome boost with both West Bromwich Albion and Fulham dropping points. The Baggies were able to leapfrog Leeds to the top of the league table on goal difference, but their performance was pretty lacklustre in the 0-0 derby draw against Birmingham City on Saturday. Slaven Bilic’s side managed just one shot on target over the course of the 90 minutes.
Fulham, on the other hand, suffered a west London derby loss to Brentford at Craven Cottage. The game was tightly contested between the cross-town rivals, but the visitors scored twice after the 88th minute of the encounter. Benrahma, who has been instrumental in the Bees’ promotion push, was the difference maker with a goal and an assist.
On Sunday, Marcelo Bielsa’s side have the opportunity to go two points clear of the Baggies at the top of the table with a victory at Cardiff, but most importantly, they could extend their advantage over third-placed Fulham to 10 points in the race for the automatic promotion places.
Still, they can’t anticipate an easy contest against Cardiff, who have the chance to close the three-point gap for the final play-off position. The reverse meeting at Elland Road was a classic which finished 3-3 in December last year, but it was one to forget for the Leeds faithful.
The hosts were able to take an unprecedented 3-0 lead in the 52nd minute of the clash, but the Bluebirds made a sensational comeback which included two goals during the final 10 minutes. The visitors scored the equalising goal shortly after they were reduced to 10 men.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
