Leeds United can move back into second place with a win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside
Daniel Farke is expecting his Leeds United side to come up against a ‘highly motivated’ Middlesbrough side on Monday evening, despite having very little to play for.
While results for West Brom and Norwich City on Saturday meant that officially Boro’s play-off chances are not yet mathematically impossible, the goal difference advantage both sides have over Michael Carrick’s side with three games remaining makes a top-six finish now highly improbable.
Despite that, Boro are on a nine-game unbeaten run that has included draws away at Leeds’ automatic promotion rivals Southampton and Ipswich Town. Both Carrick and skipper Jonny Howson have made clear their ambitions to extend the unbeaten run to the end of the season too, regardless of what is or isn’t to play for in the bigger picture.
And previewing an important game for Leeds at the Riverside in their bid for promotion to the Premier League, Farke said: “It’s a side which in recent weeks has had really good performances and an unbeaten run, many good wins and top-class performances.
“They’re a side who at the beginning of the season would have spoken about wanting to finish in the top six and there’s still a chance so I expect them to be highly motivated and perhaps to play with a bit less pressure because they have nothing to lose any more, they can just win something.
“It’s a pretty local game and they will be highly motivated for an outstanding performance and a good result so I expect a really tough game for us. This is more or less what we face on four game days. We know we have to be at our best to give ourselves a chance to win the points.”
While Leicester picked up an important win this weekend over West Brom, Ipswich were not in action while Southampton lost to Cardiff City. It gives Leeds the opportunity to move back into second place by beating Boro. But they come into the game on the back of just one win in their last five, with defeat to Blackburn Rovers last time out.
Asked about the promotion race and expectations on his side, Farke said: “I don’t like to sugar-coat situations or be too addicted to results. I can’t bank results, I can just deliver performances. It’s football. We were disappointed with the outcome [of the last game] and we didn’t score but I just had to point to the statistics.
“We dominated with 75 to 25% possession, we dominated with 19-3 shots, 12-1 corners, we dominated in terms of expected goals… I could go on with all the statistics but they don’t matter. It tells you if you play the same game 30 times you will win 28 games, there is one draw and one loss and it was just one of those days.
“To be fully honest with a better outcome last week we could have been leading from the front for the first time and we would have appreciated it but if I’m honest after this week nothing has changed. We are still in the chasing role. We will keep going.
“We want to make sure of a perfect outcome from the last three games and perhaps we can climb into the top two for automatic promotion. If not, we accept this and use the play-offs. We’re looking forward to the three games because we appreciate we are edging closer and we still have the chance to finish in the top two. It’s great. If not, we still have another bullet in the play-offs.
“This club is amazing and we have one department where we are definitely one of the best departments in this league, if not the best – our supporters. The supporters of this club are second to none, right up there with the best in the country, if not the best. But just because we have this, it’s not that we are a big favourite.
“I love this club already and I am ambitious but when I compare how many years we spent in the Premier League in the last 20 with the likes of Leicester and Southampton, you won’t label us big favourites. If you look at the average age of our starting line-up, you won’t label us big favourites.
“We have fantastic players and I don’t want to swap one player – I totally trust this group – but because we are not the finished article. I cannot guarantee the outcome. I believe we can do this and we’ll go for it. If you chose to stay a doubter and moan and be pessimistic, don’t worry, we’ll go for it anyway.
“Believe me, it feels much better if you’re a believer. This young group needs backing, needs trust and support and deserves it. I can’t promise a perfect result because it’s football and we are a young side but we’ll definitely go for it.
“We want to be promoted and we have two chances – if we finish in the top two or if not by using the play-offs. We know we’ve had a fantastic season but we want to use it to have the perfect season and be promoted back to the Premier League. We want to do this. We’re all highly motivated. It’s more like intrinsic pressure we have.”
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