.jpeg?width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75&crop=3%3A2%2Csmart&trim= "'Rub Tottenham's noses in it' - Merson brilliantly hits back at Leeds 'disrespect' - Yorkshire Evening Post")
Leeds United aren’t expected to roll over despite their Premier League status being secured.
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Leeds United are being disrespected by assumptions they will roll over for opponents now they’re safe, according to Paul Merson, who expects a Whites result at Tottenham Hotspur.
Daniel Farke’s side know they will be in the Premier League next season following West Ham’s defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, a result which left them seven points adrift with two games to play. The Whites have strung together a brilliant six-game unbeaten run to pull clear of trouble but still have plenty to play for.
Leeds are only six points away from the top half and Farke’s immensely professional squad will be desperate to continue their unbeaten run through the final three games. And former Arsenal midfielder Merson has railed against suggestions they have nothing to play for against relegation-threatened Tottenham.
“I’d be shocked if Tottenham won this football match tonight,” Merson told Sky Sports. “I think Leeds have been that good, I think we’re disrespecting Leeds a bit where it’s ‘oh Tottenham will win, they've got nothing to play for’.
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“They’re going to have three, four, five thousand fans down there behind the goal. It’s very hard to go ‘you know what, we’re already safe’. I think they'll want to rub Tottenham’s noses in it.”
That Leeds are safe with three games to spare, even in this most competitive of relegation fights, is testament to Farke and his squad. The Whites were many people’s pre-season favourites to go down and looked in serious trouble through October and November.
Farke’s half-time switch to a back-three at Manchester City is now seen as a season-defining moment, with Leeds only losing four of the 22 top-flight games that have followed so far. Merson was full of praise for the Whites boss and his squad for overseeing such a turnaround.
“It was unbelievable really,” he added. “They were getting ripped to shreds at the Etihad, they were 2-0 down and you’re thinking ‘if this gets to four or five, he probably won’t be in a job by Monday’. He goes in at half-time, changes it around and they’ve just been on a run and a half.
“They got to the semi-final of the FA Cup and they're safe in the league. It’s been an absolutely unbelievable turnaround. The players, the manager, I think they've been great.”