There were two huge games in the Premier League relegation battle on Sunday afternoon, before Tottenham Hotspur’s terrifying trip to Anfield.
Nottingham Forest, 18th, who played in the Europa League on Thursday, hosted Fulham. Leeds United, 15th, were at Crystal Palace, who played in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Both clubs with European exploits would have had their minds on their last-16 second legs.
That played into Leeds’ hands, as Palace are all but safe, but meant Forest would find it tough against a very unpredictable Fulham side, who were knocked out of the FA Cup by second-tier Southampton in their most recent outing.
Starting with Palace vs Leeds, where there were undoubtedly more talking points, or at least one significant talking point across two games with a combined zero goals, it was a tale of six fateful minutes for Daniel Farke’s side at the end of the first half.
Both games were rubbish. Both games did the ‘Premier League is boring’ defenders no good. Both games were entirely forgettable, but a decent point on the road for Leeds considering they played the entire second period with 10 men.
It really depends which way you look at it. Palace played on Thursday, aren’t very good this season, have a manager who hates everyone and everything, and, most importantly, Leeds missed a penalty.
MORE FEATURES ON F365
* Next Salah? Ranking 10 Liverpool options tipped to replace legendary winger
* Haaland must be dropped after least convincing Guardiola U-turn imaginable
* Arteta shows massive balls with title-clinching Dowman sub as Arsenal make history
As the second half drew to a close, Eagles captain Will Hughes decided he was playing volleyball at a corner, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin stepped up to shoot wide of Walter Benitez’s goal.
It was an abysmal, rushed spot-kick from a reliable player, yet it wasn’t the most miserable thing to happen before half time.
Another one of Leeds’ more reliable players, Gabriel Gudmundsson, was sent off for a second bookable offence in the sixth minute of injury time.
Referee Thomas Bramall carded Gudmundsson and seemed to forget the Leeds defender was already on a yellow, which resulted in a sheepishly given red card.
Only Ismaila Sarr, who was the one fouled, seemed to remember, and had Bramall remembered, he probably wouldn’t have brandished a second yellow.
You could just tell it wouldn’t have been a booking had Gudmundsson’s 27th-minute yellow been on his mind, which reaffirms what we already knew: the threshold for first and second yellows are absolutely different in the mind of a Premier League referee.
Some might think that’s right, others might think that’s wrong. But a carded Brennan Johnson getting away with one in the second half was an alarming lack of consistency on a day that left Leeds fans fuming.
Ultimately, they held on to a point and will take solace from that, especially after Jefferson Lerma had a late winner disallowed for offside against that man Johnson.
It’s a point further away from the relegation zone, which is currently occupied by Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley, and West Ham United.
Leeds sit on 32 points after 30 games, three points above West Ham, Nottingham Forest, and Tottenham, who play Liverpool later on Sunday.
Forest join Spurs and the Hammers on 29 points after their goalless draw against Fulham.
Dan Ndoye had a goal disallowed in the second half for the narrowest of offsides you’ll see, which would have been gargantuan for Forest and Spurs.
It’s now over to Spurs at Anfield. Eek.
It’s not the absolute worst pair of results in the world for them, but they still look like the worst of the four teams fighting against each other to avoid 18th, above Burnley and Wolves.
The two teams above and the three below Spurs all drew this weekend, and while the immediate focus is obviously on this Liverpool game, it’s hard not to think about Forest’s trip to north London next week.
What a game to go into the international break.