A fourth defeat in five Premier League games has seen Leeds United slip to just nine points above the relegation zone and although they remain in eleventh place in the table, Nigel Martyn has explained to LeedsUnited.News that he is not concerned about potential relegation come the end of the season.
Despite dominating the early stages and the second half, Leeds suffered a 2-0 loss to West Ham’s David Moyes on Monday night at the London Stadium. Goals from Tyler Roberts and Patrick Bamford were disallowed, before Jesse Lingard scored after having a penalty saved. The set-pieces curse then struck once again, as Craig Dawson nodded home.
That is now four defeats in their last five Premier League matches and while there were some suggestions of making a late push for Europe – following the 3-0 win over Southampton – Leeds are now potentially looking nervously over their shoulder. That could also be because the London curse continued on Monday, and now they take on Chelsea on Saturday.
Chelsea are in excellent form under the guidance of Thomas Tuchel, since the German replaced Frank Lampard at the Stamford Bridge helm. Another defeat could see 18th-placed Fulham, and the clubs in between, begin to close the gap – and draw Leeds in closer. With 10 games to play, Leeds will be confident that they can easily reach the magical 40-point mark.
Leeds legend Martyn responded when asked about relegation, and stated that he is not panicking: “I think we’re okay because, it’s not just Fulham. It’s got to be Brighton, Burnley and Newcastle – and others – who have got to have a great finish to the season. I draw comfort from the fact that one, two or all of them that will struggle to get to Leeds’ point total.”
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Discussing that Leeds now take on Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea in their next five Premier League games – as well as a Yorkshire derby against Sheffield United, and in-form Fulham, Martyn said: “There is a tough run of fixtures, but I see Leeds picking up points. I am pretty confident Leeds are safe, they have a total that kept them up for the past four seasons. There’s no panic here.”
Leeds are expected to be with both Rodrigo and Kalvin Phillips – with the latter playing 90 minutes against West Ham. Ian Poveda, Sam Greenwood, Gaetano Berardi and others are now fit. But Robin Koch and Adam Forshaw remain on the sidelines are are expected to be out against Chelsea.
