Sky Sports has again turned the screw on Leeds United’s promotion push
In order to ensure that they play every game with the full weight of their competitors on their backs, Leeds United has been scheduled to play last on both Good Friday and Easter Monday.
For teams at the top and bottom of the three league tables, Easter has long been a make-or-break weekend in the EFL schedule. Year year and year out, those two games spread over four days, so near the end of the season, separate the men from the boys.
Fans of Leeds United will most likely recall the disastrous doubleheader between Brentford and Wigan Athletic in 2019. Over the course of 96 hours, Marcelo Bielsa’s debut campaign collapsed, demonstrating that his team was not prepared for automatic promotion.
Daniel Farke seems to have a much more relaxed and organised style this time around, but Sky Sports has once again had its nefarious way with the timetable. The whole weight of their competitors will be on Leeds’ shoulders if they are to emerge from Easter with their promotion prospects still in their grasp.
The broadcasters have decided to kick off the Whites’ matches at 8 p.m. on Good Friday and Easter Monday.However, on Good Friday, Southampton will play Middlesbrough at 3pm, Ipswich Town will play Blackburn Rovers at 5.30pm, and Leicester City will play Bristol City at noon.
Leicester play host to Norwich City on Easter Monday at midday. Ipswich and Southampton then play in what may be a classic match at 5.30 p.m., and Hull City visit Elland Road at 8 p.m., in a praiseworthy attempt to at least maintain the same recuperation time for each club. Leeds will be fully aware of the actions, both good and bad, of their competitors on both days.
We’ll see exactly what pressure does to United if the earlier results don’t go their way.
