Hugely concerning Leeds relegation claims made as Gary Neville admits he ‘saw it from day one’ | OneFootball

Leeds United have been warned their season is heading only one way – towards relegation – after claims made by both Gary Neville and Roy Keane, while under-pressure manager Daniel Farke will need to pull off a career first this weekend to keep the wolves from his door.

The Whites have competed well at times this season and should have put more points on the board than the 11 they have so far. Now that failure to make hay while the sun is shines is coming back to haunt Leeds United in the wake of a dismal run of four losses in their last five games.

Now, with a daunting run of fixtures ahead of them, which sees Leeds tackle Aston Villa (H), Man City (A), Chelsea and Liverpool (both home) in their next four games, there is a growing sense of dread around the West Yorkshire side.

In light of that, speculation that Farke is facing the sack is gathering serious momentum, though TEAMtalk led the way by insisting the club remains very much behind the 49-year-old as it stands – a claim since backed up by Sky Sports, BBC Radio Leeds’ Adam Pope and the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Graham Smyth.

Even so, the pressure will be on Leeds to stop the rot when they tackle in-form Villa on Sunday in a high-stakes clash for the Whites.

But following their dismal showing last time out against Nottingham Forest, which resulted in a painful 3-1 loss, Neville and Keane insists Leeds United are only heading in one direction.

“Leeds were so bad against Forest, weren’t they?” Keane said on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast. “Leeds are going down, yeah. They were dreadful against Forest.”

According to Neville, who has openly admitted his vitriol towards Leeds, saying it’s the only ground where he ever felt unease, he says he could see from matchday one that the Whites were facing an instant demotion to the second tier.

“I said Leeds were going down after watching them win the first game of the season, even though they’d beat Everton. I thought, it’s not right, that. Everton were shocking that night.”

Farke hoping to pull off career first v Aston Villa

If Leeds are to defy the odds and survive in the Premier League, they will have to start putting some points on the board and ensure they maintain the manager’s own metric – which has, it must be stressed, currently been achieved – of a point, per game this season.

Despite all that, Jeff Stelling thinks Farke needs to pull off at least one thing in the next four games to keep the wolves from his door.

In the meantime, Farke has urged Leeds fans not to overreact to both wins and defeats and, and having seemingly taken a little nibble at fans.

“Performance-wise, once you sign a contract as manager of Leeds United, you have to be ready for it [pressure],” he said.

“After each and every loss, fans are asking for a sacking after the match. If you take it personally or dwell on it, then you have no chance to be successful here. So, Championship level, it was after every draw that it was ‘the manager’s not good enough’. You have to stay calm, keep going and work to your beliefs.

“The outcome was being back in the Premier League with the best season in the history of the club.

“Of course, I don’t expect that we will again finish with 100 points and the title. Our title would be survival, something that no other newly-promoted team has managed to do in the last two years.”

If Leeds are to get the win on Sunday in a packed and passionate Elland Road, Farke will need to achieve something he has never before managed in his career: a win against Aston Villa.

It will also be the first time the manager has gone head to head with Unai Emery in both their respective careers.

But with five wins in their last six Premier League games, including impressive wins at Tottenham and at home to Manchester City, Farke knows he will need a big performance from his men to claim victory.

Latest Leeds news: Four big strikers Whites could sign;

One of the big names already being linked with the Leeds job is Brendan Rodgers, who is out of work after recently leaving Celtic.

However, Leeds fans appear very much against the prospect of appointing the Ulsterman, while a look at his wages down the years suggests his appointment would likely cost 49ers Enterprises a big wedge of cash.

On the transfer front, Leeds are keeping an open mind over the sale of their prized assets in the January window, with sources explaining the circumstances in which Willy Gnonto could be shipped out as the Whites look to fund that all-important striker swoop.

Meanwhile, Leeds have four striker options they could target in January to provide a much-needed goal threat to their side, with sources confirming interest in two of those named, but with an England international striker deemed out of reach.