Jesse Marsch press conference RECAP: Leeds United boss offers Bamford verdict
Leeds United's last fixture of the season will prove their most crucial as Premier League survival is decided over the course of 90 minutes on Sunday.
United are in the relegation zone after 37 matches played and will be relegated to the Championship if they fall to defeat against Brentford.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdChances of survival swung in Burnley's favour on Thursday night as the Clarets picked up a point away to Aston Villa, while Everton completed a comeback against Crystal Palace to mathematically secure their safety.
Heading into the final round of fixtures, Leeds and Burnley are engaged in a straight shoot-out for survival.
Both sides sit on 35 points, however the Lancashire club boast a much better goal difference than the Whites, meaning Burnley need only match Leeds' result in west London.
The objective is clear for Leeds: win and hope Burnley falter at home to Newcastle United.
Jesse Marsch spoke to the media this afternoon ahead of his side's final game of the season.
Live updates to follow here.
Jesse Marsch press conference RECAP: Leeds United boss offers Bamford verdict
Marsch on stress of the final day
I watched the matches last night, it’s not easy there’s a lot of emotions going through me. I think watching the matches as well, there’s always a little something to learn how teams respond, what the body language is like, how players and teams handle difficulty. [We will] make sure we are ready. We want to be aggressive and want to win, if we win we give ourselves the best chance.
Marsch on ‘excitement'
The results haven’t always gone our way in the last month, we went from Watford to then having teams around us win matches. All I can say is we’re excited for this challenge, we know we have to be at our best. I never came here thinking it was going to be easy. I knew we had to fight for everything.
Marsch on Bamford
Patrick Bamford has looked really good this week. We still haven’t made a final decision on Sunday yet. He had a day off today to recuperate effectively but we’re hopeful we can make the decision to make him available.
As it stands
17: Burnley - 35 pts; -18 GD
------------------------------------------
18: Leeds United - 35 pts; -38 GD
Remaining Fixtures:
Burnley vs Newcastle United - 16:00 Sunday, May 22
Brentford vs Leeds United - 16:00 Sunday, May 22
Full Howe quotes
Before Jesse Marsch speaks this afternoon, read what Newcastle boss Eddie Howe had to say in full this morning.
No towels being thrown at Turf Moor on Sunday.
Howe’s promise
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has vowed to finish the season strongly away to Burnley this weekend.
"We'll pick our strongest team and try to win the game. There's no let up from our perspective and we are determined to end the season on a high."
Welcome to Thorp Arch
Hello and welcome to Thorp Arch,
We’re hearing from head coach Jesse Marsch from 1 o’clock this afternoon as he previews Leeds’ final game of the season away to Brentford.
Brighton wasn’t a ‘must-win’ fixture according to the American last week, but this time it’s all or nothing.
Live updates to follow in the blog here, followed by a full transcript later today.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.