Daniel Farke plays down Leeds United advantage as Chris Wilder has theory 'document' produced — YEP 24/1/25
By Graham Smyth
Leeds United and Burnley will enjoy a rare luxury this week
in a situation that will further frustrate Chris Wilder and add to his theory.
Both the Whites and the Clarets played on Wednesday night
and will next do battle against one another at Turf Moor on Monday, by which
time Sheffield United will have hosted Hull City to complete a three-game
six-day period. The Hull game comes hot on the heels of a Tuesday night win in
Swansea City and a Saturday victory over Norwich City. It's the second time
this season Sheffield United have faced such a situation. Leeds have also had
to deal with this, but just last week Wilder was quoting a document he had
drawn up to substantiate his suggestion that the Blades have had it worse this
season when it comes to broadcast scheduling issues.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's win over Norwich he said:
"I’ve had a document done. We suffer the most out of all the top clubs
over turnaround in fixtures, by quite a long way. It’s interesting reading.
Suppose that’s the price you pay for getting off to a good start. We’d like
some parity and consistency but there doesn’t seem to be. We’ll have to deal
with a really punishing week but the most important game is Saturday.”
Farke has been no fan of broadcast selection decisions that
have impacted upon his team's preparation and travel time for games and would
likely contend the idea that Leeds have had it easier than their title rivals.
But this week at least they can give the visit to fellow automatic promotion
hopefuls Burnley their full physical and mental attention. It might give them
some advantage over the Blades this week, but not the side they're actually
facing.
"It feels like it's the first time the tv schedule
helps us a little bit, but the same for the opponent," said Farke.
"For both, the load during this week doesn't make a difference. If you
have as a professional player five days between the games, if it's not enough
to recover you have to play chess - with all respect. I don't think being tired
or fatigue will play an important role on Monday. Both teams have enough time
to prepare."
The German, as is his tradition, refused to categorise the
top-three clash as any more important or bigger than other fixtures and
highlighted Leeds' success in such games last season versus their ultimate
failure to escape the division as his evidence. He said: "Important game
but the same importance as the game today [against Norwich]. We like to speak
about massive games but in this league so many massive games coming up. We'll
hear this against Burnley, Sheffield United, Sunderland. It's another very, very
difficult away game because Burnley is one of the best sides, a tough place to
go, but nothing more.
“If these games were more important than the others - we
beat Leicester and Ipswich twice and they're playing in the Premier League.
Games like today, like the last days, you need to be on it. We're looking
forward to a spotlight game and you want to challenge yourself against the best
opponents but it's just another chance to add a few points."