Why Gary Neville wants to see Leeds United succeed in the Premier League as honest admission made
Leeds United have enjoyed an encouraging start to their Premier League campaign with eight points from six games.
Gary Neville has been impressed with how Leeds United, Sunderland and Burnley have settled into the Premier League.
Leeds have picked up eight points from their opening six games after drawing 2-2 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday. The Whites were on course for a brilliant victory until a minor lapse allowed substitute Eli Junior Kroupi to equalise in the third minute of added-time.
Daniel Farke’s side weren’t handed an easy opening run of fixtures by any means but acquitted themselves well against the likes of Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Fulham - albeit with points dropped in all. Victories over Everton and Wolves were both fully deserved while their only concerning performance came in a 5-0 drubbing at title contenders Arsenal.
Play-off winners Sunderland have been the surprise package, with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday briefly pulling them into the top four. Results elsewhere saw them drop down to fifth by the end of the gameweek but Neville has been impressed with how all of the newly-promoted teams have started.
“I really like what I’ve seen and I’ve only seen highlights so far and parts of games but it’s brilliant what they’ve done,” Neville told the Gary Neville podcast. “And we need to see teams from the Championship do well.
“We really need to see that as a big part of the Premier League. Teams need to be given encouragement without bankrupting themselves. I think what Leeds have done and Burnley have done and Sunderland, but look, it’ll still be difficult.
“It’s a great start for them, a great win at Nottingham Forest, a tough team to play for against the majority of last season, just finding their feet this season. What a great start for Sunderland, they deserve a special mention.”
A chance to build on a good start for Leeds United
Burnley are in the relegation zone at this early point of the campaign but have endured a tricky run of fixtures, playing all of Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City in their opening six games. Scott Parker’s side ran a couple of the aforementioned sides close and have also taken points from Sunderland and Nottingham Forest.
Leeds will have an opportunity to join Sunderland on double figures this weekend, albeit the visit of Spurs presents another tough challenge. Thomas Frank’s side are yet to taste defeat on the road, with seven points from three games the best away record in the league so far.
Spurs are going to be without £65million striker Dominic Solanke, however, following confirmation he has undergone minor surgery on an ankle injury. Frank will also be without long-term absentees such as Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, while Randal Kolo Muani and Christian Romero are both slight doubts.
Leeds are expected to have Dan James unavailable due to an ankle injury, albeit reports of a long-term absence are thought to be wide of the mark. The YEP’s understanding is the Welsh winger could be sidelined for around six weeks, albeit further assessment should provide more clarity later this week.