Leeds United suffered a damaging defeat to their promotion rivals Norwich City at the weekend.
Sky Sports pundit Stuart Pearce has claimed that Leeds are ‘further ahead’ in the Championship table than he thought they would be at this stage of the season.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side, who suffered a damaging 3-1 defeat [BBC Sport] at the hands of Norwich City at the weekend, currently occupy an automatic place.
Since Bielsa’s arrival at Elland Road in the summer, the club have showcased great energy, high-pressing and attacking intent in the final third, which has seen them challenge for the title.
But former England defender Pearce admitted that he didn’t expect the Yorkshire club to be in the current situation they find themselves in.
“Leeds are probably further ahead than I thought they would be this year,” Pearce told Sky Sports News on 04/02/2019. “I thought there would be other teams in the league with slightly better squads, who would be higher than them.
“So, they are in a good position at the moment.”
As a result of Norwich picking up three points at Elland Road, they leapfrogged their rivals in the table to claim top spot going into the next round of fixtures.
Bielsa will be hoping to end a near-20 year wait for some Leeds supporters, who have not witnessed their team playing in the top tier of English football.
The Whites face another tough Championship encounter this Saturday when they travel to Middlesbrough to take on Tony Pulis’ side at the Riverside Stadium.
Before that game takes place, Leeds could find themselves sitting outside of the top two because third-placed Sheffield United, who travel to Aston Villa on Friday night, can go above them with a win.
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