‘If they’ - Rio Ferdinand gives Leeds United relegation verdict

Fo-Leeds United defender Rio Ferdinand believes that nothing needs to change for the Whites to survive the Premier League drop this season. Leeds began the season with great hope, going three games unbeaten and breezing past title contenders Chelsea at Elland Road - but the form of Jesse Marsch’s side has since dropped off dramatically, with questions beginning to be asked over the American’s leadership.

When the fixture list was released in the summer, the Elland Road faithful were delighted to find that their team, still recovering from the near-miss of Premier League relegation, were scheduled to be eased into a fresh campaign by a string of relatively ‘routine’ opponents.

But the Whites have failed to get results against the likes of Brentford and Crystal Palace and, resisting the drop zone by goal difference alone, will try to get themselves out of trouble against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in the coming weeks.

On Sunday at Elland Road, United acquitted themselves well against league leaders Arsenal but a lack of clinical finishing by Whites attackers, including a crucial penalty miss by Patrick Bamford, ensured Bukayo Saka’s first-half strike decided the match in the visitors’ favour. The defeat limited Leeds’ points haul to two from a possible fifteen, but Ferdinand saw enough to convince him that Marsch’s side won’t suffer a repeat of the horrors of their last campaign.

“I’ll give you [Arsenal] praise, you win a game you maybe shouldn’t,”Ferdinand told the Vibe with Five podcast. “Leeds I thought, if they continue the way they are then they’ll be alright.

“They showed a lot of good signs but you need an element of luck and you need your keeper to play well in those situations as well. At the same time, if I’m an Arsenal player in that dressing room, I had many times where you win a game and you think you’re lucky to get away with that.

Ferdinand added: “It’s another tick in the box and it’s a game Arsenal would have lost two or three nil in years gone by. I’m sure the team talk on Monday would’ve been: ‘Guys, we didn’t play well, there’s a few things to iron out and I’m not happy about this, but the best thing is we would’ve lost that before, we’re making moves in the right direction’. I think that’s where Arsenal are at the moment – moving in the right direction.”