'Revenge' - Leeds United warrior's Burnley warning with 'hostile' Elland Road demand
Leeds United lost the reverse fixture in October but know a win on Friday would all but guarantee Premier League safety.
Ethan Ampadu and his Leeds United teammates will be vying for revenge when they host relegated Burnley on Friday night.
Leeds lost the reverse fixture 2-0 at Turf Moor back in October, conceding goals either side of half-time in an early-season nadir for Daniel Farke’s side. But while the Clarets have stumbled towards relegation and the recent exit of head coach Scott Parker, their Friday-evening hosts are flying.
The Whites are five unbeaten in the league and hit 40 points following last week’s 2-2 draw at Bournemouth. A disappointing performance at Wembley saw them exit the FA Cup at the semi-final stage on Sunday but focus has quickly returned to getting those final points needed to guarantee survival.
“The great thing about football is you have always got another step forward and the job is not done yet,” Whites captain Ampadu told Premier League Productions. “We are still very much focused on making sure that in these last four games, we can give us a great chance to win all of them.
“We know that they are going to be a difficult team. They have shown that in games and no matter what has happened, they turn up to try and get a result, and to try and win. We have got to match the battle and we have got to match the fight.
“The biggest thing is just to be us and to show that spirit, that fight and that togetherness. They beat us earlier in the year so we want to get a bit of revenge for that. They are not going to want us to win, as with any game of football, so I do not think their situation changes anything so we have got to expect the very best Burnley.”
Ethan Ampadu’s Elland Road atmosphere message
Victory on Friday night would actually see Leeds’ position in the Premier League table change for the first time in a while. They are currently two points behind Newcastle United and could go 14th with a victory, for a day at least.
More importantly, it would pull them nine points clear of 18th-placed Tottenham Hotspur who go to Aston Villa on Sunday. Should Leeds better Spurs’ result this weekend, they can be mathematically safe with a point or three at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a week on Monday.
With Leeds’ final home game of the season against Brighton recently confirmed as a 3pm Sunday kick-off, tomorrow’s meeting with Burnley will be the last chance for Ampadu and his teammates to play under the Elland Road lights. And the midfielder anticipates another raucous atmosphere.
“Friday night under lights at Elland Road is always a special atmosphere for us to play in,” he added. “We want the fans to be themselves and be behind us as they always are. Be loud, make it a hostile place that teams do not want to come to and we are going to try and do our best to put that performance on the pitch.”