After a three-week break, Manchester United might be trying to take one other massive step in direction of Champions League qualification once they host their rivals Leeds United on Monday within the Premier League (20:00 BST).
United have been left to stew on a controversial draw at , however slip-ups from their top-five rivals imply they continue to be in a robust place in third.
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Leeds might be buoyed by their progress into the FA Cup semi-finals final weekend, however they’ll return to the chilly actuality of a relegation battle for his or her subsequent couple of fixtures.
Fernandes’ favorite opponents on the town
A win on Monday might go a good distance in direction of sealing a Champions League place for United. Supervisor Michael Carrick might be relieved to see the workforce again at Outdated Trafford too.
The Purple Devils have taken only one level from their earlier two away video games, whereas Carrick has gained all 5 of the house video games he has been in control of this season.
Regardless of these setbacks, United stay the most effective groups within the division on present kind. Their haul of 29 factors since Christmas Day can solely be bettered by ‘s 31, and it is only one loss in 14 for the Purple Devils in that point.
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Bruno Fernandes has been key to the workforce’s glowing kind and, worryingly for Leeds, they’re one of many Portuguese midfielder’s favorite opponents with six objectives in six Premier League video games.
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Leeds missing a spark
Daniel Farke faces a wonderful balancing act within the coming weeks, as pleasure over a visit to Wembley and the deal with a relegation combat must be juggled.
The massive difficulty for Leeds in latest weeks has been goalscoring. They have not netted in any of their previous 4 Premier League video games – the longest ongoing run within the competitors this season. They haven’t scored with any of their previous 64 pictures.
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Earlier within the marketing campaign, Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s medical ending was protecting the workforce away from the underside three. However for the reason that objectives have dried up for the England worldwide – he has two in his previous 12 Premier League video games – Leeds have slowly slipped again in direction of the trapdoor.
What might ultimately show secret is the workforce’s robustness on the street. They’ve drawn seven of their previous eight away video games within the Premier League, that means they’ve been capable of decide up invaluable factors persistently.
That solidity seems to be based on a shift to a extra direct model of play in latest weeks. Since December, Leeds have comfortably contested extra aerial duels than some other workforce.
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Their document at Outdated Trafford leaves loads to be desired, although. United are unbeaten of their previous 18 house league video games towards Leeds – they’ve gained 11 and drawn seven – and have solely misplaced one of many previous 20 towards their Yorkshire rivals within the top-flight, both house or away.
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Crucially for Leeds, this fixture is their hardest earlier than the tip of the season on paper. They face the 4 groups occupying the underside 4 spots – , , and – of their closing six matches; the present highest-ranked workforce they’ll come up towards is , who began the weekend in tenth.