Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour believes Leeds United will have an extra motivation for their Premier League clash against Liverpool.
Having ended a run of four consecutive Premier League defeats, Leeds are looking to re-establish a cushion on the bottom three.
Daniel Farke can emphatically end any speculation over his future at Elland Road with a win over Liverpool, with Peter Crouch backing him to do so.
A win would lift Leeds up to 17 points from their opening 15 games and potentially open up a five-point cushion on the bottom three with relegation rivals West Ham facing a tricky trip to Brighton on Sunday.
Now, former title-winner Ray Parlour has backed Leeds to avoid defeat at Elland Road, with the added motivation of moving further away from the relegation places.
Prediction time for Leeds United v Liverpool 🔮
Ray Parlour backs Leeds United to avoid Liverpool defeat
Speaking on Talksport on 5th December, Parlour explained why he believes that Leeds can take a point off Liverpool at Elland Road.
According to Parlour, the chance to put the pressure back on the teams around them in the hunt for survival will spur Farke’s side on following their win over Chelsea.
Parlour said: “I think this is a game that, if they can follow up after that Chelsea result, it really puts the pressure back onto the other teams around them down the bottom.
“I think this is a really tight game as well. I think Liverpool have been pretty poor. I think they were a little bit lucky against Sunderland.
“Sunderland set their stall out. The defending hasn’t been so good from Liverpool’s point of view. So I think there will be goals in this. I’m going to go for Leeds 2, Liverpool 2.”
- READ MORE: Gary Neville names the three Leeds players he thinks are just too weak for the Premier League
Alan Brazil backs Leeds United to claim a much-needed win
However, Parlour’s co-host Alan Brazil was more optimistic about Leeds’ chances of backing up their famous win over Chelsea with another against-the-odds win.
Liverpool have been on a poor run of form in recent weeks, despite following up a win over West Ham with a draw against Sunderland and, according to Brazil, Leeds’ improvements in recent weeks could swing the game in their favour.
Leeds United have a poor recent track record against Liverpool 🤦
- Leeds’ last home Premier League win over Liverpool came in November 2000, when Mark Viduka scored all four goals
- Leeds have won just one of their last 12 Premier League games against Liverpool
- Liverpool won their last two games against Leeds 6-0 and 6-1
- Leeds last won back-to-back Premier League games in November 2022, one of which was a win over Liverpool
- Leeds have just three wins over Liverpool in the Premier League era
The former Ipswich forward said: “Liverpool can turn it on, we know that. But I just feel Leeds are on a roll now.
“Look at the Man City game, they came back strongly, didn’t they, just lost late on and then they got the victory against Chelsea. They’ll fancy this, won’t they?”
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