Daniel Farke’s job hangs in the balance but Leeds can take a big step towards the Championship title by beating Bristol City
Farke's men will be far too strong.
Leeds fans always sing about ‘marching on together…’ but it briefly appeared that after securing promotion back to the Premier League they would be doing so without manager Daniel Farke.
Reports claimed 49ers Enterprises, the new owners at Elland Road, did not trust the 48-year-old German to have what it takes to keep the Yorkshire club in the top flight after twice gaining promotion from the Championship with Norwich only to be immediately relegated the first time and sacked during his second top-flight term.
Fears among Leeds fans that the Monday Night Football match against Bristol City would be the last time Farke takes control of their club for a home game have been allayed, however, and just maybe the problem at Carrow Road was that he was not adequately backed in the transfer market by the Canaries board.
It will be interesting to see how he strengthens his side during the summer but the current matter at hand is to win their final two matches and be promoted as champions with 100 points to their credit.
Burnley are three points above them having played a game more and face a tough final match at Turf Moor against in-form Millwall, who need to win to grab a play-off place, while Leeds end their season at Plymouth, who are relegated barring a set of freak results and a mathematical miracle.
The Robins travel to Yorkshire requiring three points from this outing, and the final day’s game at home to a Preston side needing victory to ensure they stay up, to be sure of advancing to the play-offs.
It’s therefore fair to assume they so will be giving their all despite only winning one of their last 14 away games in the league, including a 3-1 defeat at struggling Luton last time out but the task looks beyond them.
Leeds won’t be taking their foot off the gas as a passionate home crowd will demand a memorable party on home soil and they are 7/5 with Betfair, BoyleSports and StarSports to lead HT/FT, while a 3-1 home victory is 12/1 with William Hill, bet365, Betfred and 888Sports.
The Whites -1 goal is 5/1 with Betfair while Manor Solomon is 14/5 with BetMGM and Unibet to score at any time after finding the net in recent triumphs against Preston and Oxford.
• Stefanos Tsitsipas has a superb record on clay but faces a tough match against Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 32 at the Madrid Open.
Musetti has actually entered the big dress rehearsal for the imminent French Open as the tenth seed in the Spanish capital compared to his Greek counterpart’s ranking at 17 and it should not be forgotten he reached the fourth round in last year’s grand slam at Roland Garros before returning to the venue to gain a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics.
Take Musetti to win at 10/11 with Betfair and Sky Bet with a 2-1 victory 10/3 with the latter firm, and keep an eye on his progress as he is shaping up to be each-way value in the second slam of the year.
• After winning on the hard courts at Indian Wells and taking his first Masters 1,000 series title, British No.1 Jack Draper is out to prove he can cut it on the clay-court swing of the ATP season. He faces a difficult challenge against Italian Matteo Berrettini in his next outing at the Madrid Open but can win the deciding set to scoop up the 3/1 offered by Betway on a 2-1 victory.
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