Jamie O’Hara might have to reassess his pre-season opinion of Leeds United after their heroic effort away at Liverpool on Saturday evening.
United are back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence and the Whites were given the worst-possible comeback game when being paired with Liverpool, the champions, in their opener.
Despite being huge underdogs, Leeds, who were trailing 1-0 within three minutes of kickoff at Anfield, came from behind on three occasions and only lost when Mo Salah struck a late penalty to seal a 4-3 win for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
A couple of days prior to the game, O’Hara told fans of the Elland Road club on talkSPORT to ‘get back in your box’ in the belief that some supporters thought Marcelo Bielsa’s troops could finish in the top six this season.
The former Tottenham midfielder went on to claim that Leeds were ‘overhyped’ and warned that it was going to be a ‘long and tough season’ for them.
Based on Saturday night’s showing, the Whites could very well enjoy a strong first year back in the top flight and some fans of the West Yorkshire club have been tweeting their messages to O’Hara in the wake of the narrow defeat.
Liverpool conceded less than a goal-a-game on average last season, so for Leeds to hit them for three, on their own patch, is a very good metric of where the newly-promoted outfit are.
They might not finish top six, but they may still surprise a lot of people – including O’Hara – over the coming nine months.
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