Chris Wilder has looked to pile the pressure on Leeds United ahead of Sheffield United’s visit to Elland Road.
Two of the Championship’s top five will go head-to-head in what is the first game after the international break, with the Blades looking to protect an unbeaten start to the season.
This will be the first meeting between the two clubs in front of supporters since the year Sheffield United pipped Leeds to promotion in 2019, the period which ignited Wilder’s feud with the Whites.
Wilder has reflected on some of his past comments about Leeds in his press conference, but is clearly looking to play a couple of little mind games ahead of the match.
Leeds currently sit fifth in the Championship, with Sheffield United up in second thanks to an impressive start to the season after relegation from the Premier League.
Wilder makes Leeds ‘favourites’ claim ahead of Sheffield United clash
Both clubs were certainly among the busiest during the summer transfer window, with Leeds bringing in eight new players, and Sheffield United signing 10.
With seven of the Blades’ additions coming either on loan or as free transfers, Leeds did spend significantly more money, though that was down to the £140 million brought in through sales.
In the likes of Vinicius Souza, Gustavo Hamer and Anel Ahmedhodzic, Wilder‘s squad certainly has an embarrassment of riches at this level, which is why they have started the season so well.
However, speaking in his pre-match press conference, Wilder could not resist a little dig at Leeds’ budget, after what Angus Kinnear said recently.
He said: “The squad is a fabulous squad littered with top players, I think their chief executive has gone on record saying it’s the highest budget in the history of Championship football.”
Wilder makes Leeds promotion favourites claim
Everyone at Leeds is under no illusion about how important promotion is this season, and Wilder has wanted to make that clear ahead of the game.
A third successive season of Championship football would represent the final year of parachute payments, which as per the statistics, would see the likelihood of Leeds returning to the Premier League even further.
Though Wilder has insisted he is ‘not trying to pile’ the pressure on Leeds, he says they are favourites to win the league and know how important it is to go up.
He said: “They’re favourites to win the league and rightly so, I’m not trying to pile anything on them, they know and their fans know they have to go up, they possibly should’ve gone up last year but didn’t.”
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