The crucial action that Leeds United must take as first priority against Chelsea - YEP 9/5/22

Two games always stood out by a mile when looking at Leeds United’s run-in.

By Lee Sobot

They still do, and the Whites might well need six points from Brighton at home and Brentford away, even to give themselves a chance of Premier League survival.

There is, of course, also Wednesday night’s Elland Road date with Chelsea, a much harder task on paper than the two which follow it but, ultimately, a game in which Leeds have a chance of taking some points.

The same was true of Sunday’s clash at Arsenal - a side very similar to Chelsea in the sense of chasing Champions-League football and in the division’s top four.

But Leeds gave themselves next to no chance with their truly abysmal beginning and the same will always be true against sides of that calibre.

The additional problem is that one of the main features of that abysmal start now has a knock-on effect for all three of United’s remaining games for which Luke Ayling will be suspended for.

Worse still, his three-game ban for his straight-red card lands at a time when captain Liam Cooper has a knee issue in addition to Stuart Dallas, Adam Forshaw, Crysencio Summerville and Tyler Roberts all being out and Patrick Bamford still on the way back from his foot injury.

For Ayling, Sunday’s dismissal was a sad ending to the season for a wonderful Leeds servant who was having his 500th career appearance against the side with whom his career all began as a Gunners youngster.

But Ayling’s landmark outing will always be remembered for the wrong reasons after his crazy lunge on Gabriel Martinelli near the corner flag in the 25th minute.

Leeds were already 2-0 down at the time and an uphill task became a mountainous one as young striker Joe Gelhardt was sacrificed for an extra man in defence.

Credit to Jesse Marsch’s side for the way they dug in and responded after the break but the Gunners would have been well and truly out of sight but for wayward finishing.

Mikel Arteta’s side bombarded Leeds with 19 attempts at goal, nine of which were on target and how they netted only twice beggars belief.

But so too does the manner in which they were allowed to open the scoring as Whites ’keeper Illan Meslier failed to control a simple back pass from Ayling which was seized upon by former Whites loanee Eddie Nketiah for a tap-in and the first part of his brace.

Errors are part and parcel of the game but disastrous against opponents of Arsenal’s calibre and, sure enough, proved that there was no way back.

But, whilst the actions of Meslier and Ayling took the headlines, Leeds were all at sea as a team as the Gunners continually poured forward with Bukayo Saka having Junior Firpo in knots down the right flank and Martinelli causing Ayling chaos down the other side.

The Gunners were only 2-0 up at the break but it could have been anything and the prospect of Leeds potentially bagging a point after Diego Llorente’s second-half strike was an incredible one that would have made the comeback at Wolves seem tame.

This time, there was no comeback as part of a dreadful day that ended with Leeds in the relegation zone after Everton’s 2-1 win at Leicester City.

The Toffees are now as big as 12-1 to go down and the battle to avoid finishing 18th is now rated as a straight shoot-out between Leeds and Burnley who are level on points with three games left.

Given that Everton have a trip to already-relegated Watford plus home games against Brentford and Crystal Palace on the agenda, that looks about right.

United’s fate is now ultimately once again dependent on how the Toffees but also Burnley fare, the Clarets’ run-in consisting of trips to Tottenham and Aston Villa followed by Newcastle United at home on the final day.

That’s a hard enough run-in and Leeds still have a chance of staying up.

Not, though, with first-half displays and decisions like the ones against Arsenal, let alone the obvious need to improve massively as an attacking force too.