Gary Neville believes Leeds must continue to play to the same standard they showed during the Manchester City defeat if they are to avoid the drop.
The Whites went down 4-0 to Pep Guardiola’s title-chasing Citizens on Saturday evening. Jesse Marsch’s side were 1-0 down at half-time thanks to Rodri’s header. But Nathan Ake, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho bagged after the break to give City the advantage over Liverpool once again.
The loss left Leeds 17th in the top-flight standings, level on 34 points with Burnley. The duo are two points better off than Everton but Frank Lampard’s Toffees have a game in hand.
Norwich are already down, with Watford set to join them and so it is now a three-way battle for survival. Leeds began the campaign full of hope following last season’s ninth-place finish.
But Marcelo Bielsa’s gung-ho tactics failed to deliver results. They suffered a run of seven defeats in eight games, with the Argentinian being shown the door during that sequence of results.
Neville sees less chaos under Marsch
Marsch’s arrival eventually began to pay off, with a more organised approach seeing the West Yorkshire outfit go unbeaten in five games.
They came down to earth with a bump at the weekend. But Neville saw enough to suggest Leeds will stay up if they can replicate that display over their final four matches.
“I’ve thought all season that Leeds play like a team that could go down because of their recklessness, their openness and lack of ability at defending set pieces,” he told the Gary Neville Podcast.
“I have to say that performance level against Man City, even thought they lost 4-0, was very different from the performances we’ve seen this season where they’ve been battered 4-0, 5-0 and 6-0, and we thought what the hell was that.
“The performance against City was very different. They were playing against a great side, but it wasn’t a 4-0 performance.
“That performance in the final games keeps them up, but it’s whether they start to get jittery.”
Everton gave themselves hope by beating Chelsea on Sunday. However, Neville does not feel it is time for Leeds to panic as the performance showed how far the club has come.
“Everton’s win is big. That puts massive pressure on Leeds, and it is how these players handle it,” he added. “The Leeds crowd responded to the performance against City. And they knew their side put a real shift in and it wasn’t chaotic as we’d seen previously, where they just looked like a mess.
“They were organised, they were decent, and they didn’t get that luck. They were a bit frantic in the final third and they’ve got to stop conceding goals from defensive set pieces.”
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