Nottingham Forest closed the gap on their promotion rivals Leeds United on Saturday.
Sabri Lamouchi has claimed that Leeds United are ‘not the same team’ without Kalvin Phillips following their 2-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
Speaking to Sky Sports Football (08/02/2020 at 19:40 pm), the Forest manager claimed that Leeds made ‘more mistakes’ than they usually do, as he made it clear that his side deserved all three points at the City Ground.
“Massive performance against a fantastic team,” Lamouchi told Sky Sports. “Probably they made more mistakes than [they] usually [do].
“And also maybe with Phillips and without Phillips, they are not the same team. But we disturbed them without the ball and also with the ball. Lewis [Grabban] can score the second one and maybe we can control the game until the end.
“But, we deserve this victory and my players they fight and they play with a big determination. They defended so well today. The football is just unbelievable. The last week against Birmingham, I was so upset against them, but today they make me so proud and so happy.”
It was another worrying performance for Leeds, who were second best for the majority of the game at the City Ground, as the chasing pack will be worrying Marcelo Bielsa.
Not so long ago, Leeds had a double-figure lead over the play-off chasing pack, but in recent months, perhaps starting with their 3-3 draw at home to Cardiff, third-placed Fulham are now level on points with them.
Added with that, fourth-placed Forest have also closed the gap on the Yorkshire club to one point, whilst fifth-placed Brentford can overtake them on Tuesday night if they beat them at Griffin Park.
Leeds were beaten at Brentford last season which was one of the games that played a part in their downfall. Added with that, it has been well-documented that Leeds don’t have a great record whenever they come up against a London-based team.
But Kalvin Phillips, 24, will return to the starting XI and this is Leeds’ chance to show what they are about by securing a much-needed three points.
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