Chris Sutton believes that Newcastle United will be unaffected by the Elland Road atmosphere and claim the victory which will push Leeds United closer to relegation from the Premier League.
Sutton was speaking to BBC Sport ahead of another crucial weekend of fixtures at the bottom of the table. Leeds, of course, are gearing up for their first home game under Sam Allardyce.
The Whites were able to secure a respectable scoreline against Manchester City last time out. But no supporter is under any illusions regarding how the game went. And the last two results on Monday have pushed Leeds to second from bottom in the table, two points off safety.
Sutton backs Newcastle to beat Leeds
Next up is Champions League-chasing Newcastle. So it does not get a lot easier for the Whites.
Unfortunately, we are at the stage where Leeds need to spring a surprise from somewhere at some point to stand any chance of staying up.
However, Chris Sutton does not believe that that surprise is coming this weekend.
“A win would probably lift them out of the bottom three and would be absolutely massive, but I just don’t see it happening,” he told BBC Sport as he predicted a 3-1 Newcastle win.
“Newcastle are still looking to close out a top-four finish, and the fact they lost last week probably makes Leeds’ task even harder.
“We know how Eddie Howe’s side play and I think we will see a response from them after that defeat by Arsenal.
“Yes, Elland Road will be raucous because of what is at stake for the home side but I don’t think Newcastle will be fazed by that, and their forward line will be too strong for the Leeds backline.
“Leeds will sit in and try to hit Newcastle on the counter – that’s the Allardyce way – but it didn’t work against City and it won’t work here, either.”
There can surely be little doubt that last weekend’s result at the Etihad Stadium was so much better than it would have been had Javi Gracia remained in charge. But that does not mean that Allardyce is going to fare any better in trying to keep us up.
This Saturday will tell us a lot more about what we can potentially expect at the end of the season. But ultimately, we are in a position where it is no longer in our hands.
If relegation is on the cards, let’s hope it happens as soon as possible before hopes rise again.
But if Everton can go to Brighton and score five, Leeds have to believe that they can do something against Newcastle this weekend.