00:00 But as you say, Middlesbrough away is next and obviously Middlesbrough are a team I'm used to covering.
00:05 Michael Carrick's got them playing some good football at the moment.
00:07 They've had something of an inconsistent season, I think it's fair to say, compared to the previous campaign.
00:13 They lost a couple of players who were on loan during the summer, that didn't help them.
00:17 But even now, towards the end of the season, they are putting the pressure on.
00:20 They're knocking on the door of the playoffs just a little bit.
00:23 It's perhaps unlikely they make it in, but they've still given themselves a chance with some really good results of late.
00:29 Obviously, they took that point off Ipswich in their last fixture away from home.
00:34 And then they returned to the other side this time to welcome Leeds United.
00:38 In what is, as you say, Lee, an absolutely huge game for both sides because if Middlesbrough win,
00:44 they give themselves, as I say, a good chance of still making the playoffs, despite it being a little bit unlikely at the moment.
00:49 But as for Leeds, realistically, they have to win.
00:52 If they don't win, I think they confine themselves to the playoffs, to be honest,
00:57 because that gives Ipswich the chance, with games in hand, to go and play their own football and just make it simple for themselves.
01:04 Leicester, of course, also having a game in hand.
01:07 So Leeds simply have to win that game at Middlesbrough.
01:10 But it won't be easy.
01:12 Michael Carrick, as I say, got some good football going on at the Riverside.
01:16 They've got some good players. Some players coming back from injury soon too.
01:19 The likes of Hayden Hackney, to name just one of them.
01:23 So what can Leeds do? What can they change in this fixture?
01:28 How can they go about getting those three points they so desperately need?
01:31 Well, they've got to be more clinical.
01:32 That's the first thing to say, you know, when they get chances, they've got to take them.
01:35 But also, they've got to create slightly better chances, because as we say, when we look back at these, apart from the odd one,
01:40 certainly look back at that Blackburn game, I didn't leave at full time when I was doing my little verdict at the end.
01:45 And I didn't look back at it and think, how on earth did he miss that?
01:48 You know, there was nothing that really stuck out as glorious gold.
01:51 And there was lots of good chances, but not like superb ones.
01:54 They've got to create better chances and they've got to take the chances more when it comes to it.
02:00 I don't know with this game whether it will suit Leeds or not.
02:02 I half wonder at the moment, because of the pressure and because obviously both Blackburn and Sunderland sat deep and made themselves very hard to break down,
02:10 whether actually playing away will suit Leeds a little bit better at the moment, whether they'll get a little bit more space,
02:15 you know, whether teams will come out and attack them.
02:16 But let's be honest, Michael Carrick's a very good manager. He won't want to give them much space either.
02:20 So I expect even though Borough are at home and they'll probably try and go for it,
02:23 they'll certainly be very, very hard to break down and tighten, whatever.
02:26 But it might just suit Leeds a little bit better than the last couple of games have.
02:29 But I was quite, I mean, obviously you keep your eye on all the results, but I was amazed when we looked at Borough's recent runs.
02:34 I think it's nine games unbeaten, which has sort of come from nowhere, really.
02:37 I mean, and the other thing I would say with that is they've done wonderfully well to have an unbeaten run like that,
02:41 because I did a little piece putting all the injuries together and they've got a staggering amount of injuries, you know, like they really, really have.
02:46 I know they're starting to ease off a little bit now. We'll wait and see if Hayden Hackney's back.
02:50 He's a player I think is a very, very good young player, etc.
02:53 There might be a few other ones coming back, but they're still going to be without an awful lot of players.
02:56 That said, they've achieved this recent run with most of those players out.
03:00 Another big factor in this, which should be a massive relief to Leeds fans, is the fact that both Luke Ayling,
03:04 especially Luke Ayling and Sam Greenwood, won't be able to play because obviously they're facing the parent club.
03:09 And I mean, that's just common sense.
03:11 Like you wouldn't want to be spending Ayling away on loan, then he scores the winning goal that confines you to the playoffs.
03:15 I mean, talking about what a nightmare that would be. So that won't be happening.
03:18 So you don't need to worry about anything like that. And that will be a big factor.
03:21 Sam Greenwood's obviously a good player as well, but he's kind of been coming off the bench a little bit of late.
03:25 I think he came off the bench against Ipswich, but Ayling's very much a starter.
03:29 He got the assist, didn't he, at the weekend and stuff.
03:31 So basically, they'll have to do something to replace him.
03:33 And they'll have to do that at a time when obviously they've got a lot of injuries already.
03:36 So that is a big factor, I think. The fact that it's not all about one player, but that is a big factor.
03:41 On the flip side, Laté Laff, the striker, Emmanuel Laté Laff's in red hot form.
03:47 We talked about coming up against Sami Smodic at the weekend.
03:50 Lo and behold, he went and got the winner.
03:52 And I won't be at all surprised to see him score in this game.
03:55 He's a striker in form, probably going to be very, very confident.
03:57 That'll be a hard one as well. So it'll be a really difficult game, I think, this.
04:02 And Johnny Halson, obviously ex-leads, he's already come out and said basically not even so much about the playoffs,
04:06 just about the unbeaten run, saying, you know, we've still got a lot to play for when we want to keep this unbeaten run going.
04:11 There's also an element of rivalry in there. There's no doubt about that.
04:15 So there's loads of different factors to it. Obviously, the Sky cameras, it's Monday night, etc., etc.
04:19 And it's just when I first looked at the game and I looked at Borough's injuries, I thought Leeds will win there.
04:24 They've got to win there. And I think they'll go there and win.
04:26 And I still kind of half think they will.
04:28 But when you look through it really and stuff and like, obviously, the striker in form and their unbeaten run,
04:33 they've got a very good manager. It's a very, very difficult game.
04:36 But I mean, we can sit here and predict it all day long.
04:39 So what we think will happen is I think it's a very, very hard one to call.
04:42 But I think you're dead right.
04:43 The bottom line is, is no matter what we think about the game, Leeds have got to go there and win.
04:46 You know, they've got to go and get there in three points and go and put the pressure on.
04:49 I don't think it's over if they get one. A lot of people will feel that way.
04:54 I think you're dead right in terms of saying that if they don't win there, then they can sign to the playoffs.
04:59 I don't think that would quite be the case yet.
05:01 I mean, obviously, clutching at straws a bit because then you really do need the other teams to collapse.
05:05 But obviously, you have to see how Leicester get on beforehand against West Brom.
05:08 If they were to only get one point from that on Saturday, that might change things.
05:12 But certainly, like getting three points, it feels like almost essential really in this one.
05:17 And they can definitely do it.
05:18 Look, Leeds have gone to places like Leicester, haven't they, and stuff, and Ipswich,
05:22 and turned on the style and got great victories and stuff.
05:25 And, you know, with all due respect, they're better teams than Middlesbrough.
05:28 So, you know, there's no reason why they can't go and do it.
05:30 But they'll have to return to something like the best. They'll have to take the chances.
05:34 And, you know, it's an absolutely massive, massive game.
05:36 I mean, it goes without saying it's Leeds tonight's biggest game of the season.
05:38 It's Leeds tonight's biggest game for some time.
05:41 And, you know, things will feel a lot differently, I think, if they go there and win.
05:44 But it's a big if, Daniel. And it's one that I really wouldn't want to call.
05:49 I'll just about go with Leeds. But, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do it,
05:53 or even if Borough got a win. Leeds are odds on. I don't know what people will think about that.
05:57 I suspect a lot of people will think they shouldn't be odds on because a lot of the stats,
06:00 five to six favourites, Borough are 17 to five.
06:02 So just short of four to one, which is not a bad price, really,
06:06 if anyone wants to play at the Grand National winnings.
06:08 But I won't be advising people to have a bet on Borough,
06:10 although probably a lot of people will because to soften the blow if it goes wrong.
06:14 But let's think positive.
06:16 Let's hope that the good thing is Leeds have had a lot of time to work on things as well after that game.
06:20 I think it was nine days without a game.
06:22 So, you know, they can obviously, you know, get their heads down
06:25 and Daniel Farker can do bits and bobs on the training ground and hopefully work the Oracle.
06:30 It's an absolutely massive, massive game.
06:32 I think Leeds can do it, but I've got an enormous amount of respect for the opposition, no doubt about it whatsoever.
06:37 Yes, I think we've talked about as much as we can, as you say,
06:41 you can over talk, you can analyse every little intricate detail,
06:45 but at the end of the day, it all just comes down to what the scoreline is after 90 minutes.
06:49 That's all that will matter in this game.
06:51 Performance, as bad as they have been for Leeds at the moment, will go out the window.
06:56 You can play badly in this game and still get the three points and things will look an awful lot rosier.
