Leeds United vs. Brighton & Hove Albion Preview

Former Leeds assistant manager Gus Poyet will be looking to inflict the Whites sixth home league defeat of the season when his Brighton side travels to Elland Road for a crucial league fixture on Saturday February 11.

With both teams sitting just a few points off the play-offs, the winner could really get themselves back in contention for an end of season promotion push whilst the loser will probably have to settle for a mid-table finish.

The latter will simply not be good enough for the hosts who will be hoping that they have a new manager in the hot seat before the Seagulls fly into town.

After promising Chairman Ken Bates promotion in early November, Simon Grayson was relieved of his duties as Whites boss following a torrid run of form which has seen the Yorkshire men slump to tenth in the league courtesy of a string of heavy losses – including a notable 1-4 thrashing at the hands of Birmingham City on their last home assignment.

Bates declared that he had backed Grayson as much as possible and that he didn’t believe the players had ‘turned bad overnight’.

The natives will certainly be praying that is not the case with enough games left in the campaign for the right man to potentially turn things around.

Brighton manager Poyet was instantly linked with the high profile vacancy having impressed the Leeds fans during his tenure as No.2, however he immediately declared himself out of the running due to his well-documented spat with Bates and his desire to keep building towards the Premier League with the seaside club.

Ultimately, whoever does take over will have a massive task on their hands to get Leeds where they want to be this time around – especially as Grayson’s sacking came after the transfer window had slammed shut. A win over Brighton in their debut home fixture would definitely do a lot to get the Leeds faithful on side of the new manager.

Although that is far from certain, what can be expected is a highly entertaining match and a flood of goals if the reverse fixture is anything to go by.

Leeds squandered a 0-2 lead at the Falmer Stadium before rescuing a last ditch point after Brighton had hit back with three second half goals.

With United leaking goals left right and centre and Brighton also possessing a fairly suspect back line, more of the same should be in order at Elland Road and the hosts will be committing all that they can to impress their new manager and claim a vital three points.

Leeds’ recent deterioration is typified by their odds of around even money, for a match which they would have been long odds on for at the start of the campaign.

But with their future form hard to assess, even that enhanced price does not make much appeal, nor does the 13/5 available for Brighton to secure the spoils.

There has been 86 goals in Leeds’ first 28 games of the season, so bearing that rather sizeable average in mind, over 3.5 goals looks the way to go at likely odds of around 2/1.

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06/02/2012     © Frixo 2024