Sam Allardyce urged to repeat Leeds United successful team-talk vs Spurs as unique strength revealed

Sam Allardyce urged his side to score the first goal against Newcastle United two weeks ago, which is precisely what his Leeds squad did. At home, with the wind at their backs before a ball had even been kicked, Luke Ayling’s opener galvanised a wounded team, whipping Elland Road into a frenzy which almost yielded a rare two-goal lead inside 30 minutes, if not for Patrick Bamford’s penalty miss.

Leeds’ constant throughout 2022/23 has been the team’s reception in LS11. On Sunday, despite the resignation of many to a season in the second tier, Elland Road will not throw in the towel, so long as there are points to be won. And so, drawing first blood against Tottenham Hotspur could go a long way to deciding the final Premier League standings come Sunday evening, not least because news of an early Leeds United goal would rock fighters in the Goodison Park and King Power Stadium corners.

This season, the opening quarter of an hour of games is the only 15-minute period in which Leeds have not conceded more than their opponents. The Whites have netted seven times before the 16th minute and conceded on seven occasions during this time-frame, too.

The opening exchanges are also the time in games when Leeds concede their fewest number of chances, allowing just 61 shots as opposed to the 105 attempts conceded between minutes 46 and 60.

Per Understat, Leeds’ Expected Goals (xG) total is greater only during the opening 15 minutes of games, compared to their Expected Goals Against (xGA) across 15-minute intervals.

With 90 minutes of football remaining this season, it is essential Leeds take full advantage of their comparably favourable record at the beginning of matches this coming Sunday.

Fixtures played simultaneously rarely have a bearing on each other like Sunday’s do, therefore it is difficult to predict how players process goals scored elsewhere which change their own objective on the pitch. Should Leeds go in front on Sunday, a single Bournemouth goal at Goodison Park could be enough to elicit panic on Merseyside.

Allardyce could hardly go far wrong if he were to send his players out with the same message that preceded them flying out of the traps against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle two weekends ago. They face a Spurs side who have crumbled spectacularly in recent weeks, throwing away a one-goal lead to Brentford most recently, and conceding five in a 20-minute spell during their 6-1 demolition at St. James’ Park last month. Leeds must test their resolve.

As their fate is no longer in their own hands, Leeds must put as much pressure on the sides above who still find themselves in danger. The best way of doing so is to score early and score in quick succession. Throwing a one-two punch combination – which they came agonisingly close to achieving in their last Elland Road run-out – to catch a demotivated Spurs group flat-footed would have serious ramifications on the collective psyche of Everton and Leicester supporters elsewhere.

If at the end of the first round Leeds are in front on the judges’ scorecards, the true test of their Premier League credentials will be whether they can keep their guard up for the remainder of Sunday’s bout, having last weekend become the side to have lost the most points from leading positions in the division during 2022/23.

Bobbing and weaving the likes of Son Heung-min and five-goals-in-his-last-six Harry Kane will be no easy task but having spent the majority of the season on the ropes, their only hope now is to come out swinging against a superior opponent.