Tom Cleverley drops Leeds United claim involving Fulham as Watford suffer 4-0 battering | OneFootball

The Hornets were beaten heavily by Daniel Farke's side on Tuesday evening at Vicarage Road.

Tom Cleverley has stated that Leeds United are "one of the best" Championship sides he has ever seen, as the West Yorkshire outfit eased past Watford FC in a 4-0 win at Vicarage Road on Tuesday evening.

Goals from Manor Solomon, Joel Piroe and a Daniel James brace saw the Whites ease to their 20th league win of the season, and increased the gap to Sheffield United to five points.

The Blades are in action this evening at home to Middlesbrough, and Daniel Farke's side will be watching on with the hope that Boro can do them a favour and create some breathing space at the top of the Championship table.

Leeds have two incredibly tough clashes coming up in the next 12 days, as Sunderland visit Elland Road before they make the short journey to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United.

Cleverley drops Leeds claim after Watford decimation

The Whites were sensational at Vicarage Road on Tuesday, and they proved their class from the very first minute to the last. Watford were barely allowed a sniff at goal throughout the game, and registered just two shots on target.

Despite having just 39% possession, Farke's side were able to rip apart the Hornets, sending a statement to their promotion rivals with their third league win in a row, while also extending their unbeaten run in the Championship to 14 games.

Speaking after the match, Watford's manager, Cleverley, heaped praise on Leeds and dropped a claim that supporters will be proud of.

He said: "We were in the presence of a very strong Championship side, one of the best I've seen at this level.

"It should give us as staff and players inspiration for the levels we want to get to. I feel all my players have the potential to reach that level but it doesn't just happen.

"I challenge them to be more intense in the week, more professional, you can always do more. As a player that level would inspire me to do more in my game and my life to try and reach it. Those games won't judge our season.

“Middlesbrough and Luton will be more the level of game our season will be judged. It certainly inspires me to try get my team to those sort of levels. It's a little unfair on some of our players, we're really thin at the minute. We played Saturday and they didn't."

Cleverley continued: "It's a very expensive squad they have. It's unfair of me to compare my players to them and judge us against them. We can do better in certain aspects of tonight's performance.

"Defensively I feel like we could have done better but I'm not saying it to protect myself, there's no agendas here," he said.

"We go to Fulham in the cup and you see what a midtable Premier League side looks like and that looks like something close to that level tonight. They punished us heavily and that comes with pace, quality and a very high calibre of player."

Leeds have set themselves on course for the league title

While there is still just under a third of the season to play, Leeds have put themselves in an incredible position to take the Championship title and return to the Premier League for the first time in two years.

The top four battle is still incredibly tight, but the Whites have now given themselves breathing space and Sunderland, at the bottom of the leading pack, have fallen away in recent weeks after successive 2-2 draws against Plymouth Argyle and Watford.

The next two matches for Leeds are crucial to their title ambitions, and victories over second and fourth place will make their position a commanding one as we head into the run-in.