Leeds head to Luton looking to respond

National World - LocalTV

Daniel Wales and Lee Sobot discuss Luton Town vs. Leeds United.

Transcript

00:00I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Montel will come into the side, but it just

00:04looks like the obvious thing to happen, really. This is a big player who obviously we've been

00:09talked up as potentially a really good player in the Premier League, so now's the time to

00:13make it to shine, really, at this level. I think getting him in the side could be key

00:18between now and the end of the season, and it might be the difference in going up or

00:21not.

00:24It seems odd to say that now, after all the wins they've had against big teams that were

00:29now in this position. Again, they had such a points gap as well, and obviously that's

00:34gone in a flash, to be honest. But obviously it is good that Nonto, of course, put that

00:39performance in against Swansea, and so at least there is some sort of a positive that

00:44if he's starting from now on, you might start to see creativity come back to Leeds a little

00:50bit. Obviously, he's someone who's been there and done it for Leeds in the Premier League

00:54as well as the Championship, so you know he's got that quality, and if he's on form he might

00:58just be maybe the key towards the end of this season.

01:04If we look ahead to Luton, that is what's next for Leeds. Luton, of course, aside from

01:10the Premier League just last season, and yet have had an awful year this year, and the

01:14Championship could go down, we don't know yet. Now, you mentioned a stat off air, didn't

01:21you, Lee, about Luton Leeds? Do you want to repeat that?

01:26It's obviously second bottom versus second, isn't it? So people will look at that straight

01:29away and think it's like poles apart, but the facts are over the last five games in

01:33the form table, Leeds are 12th in the form table over the last five games, whereas Luton

01:38are 5th. So in the last five games it's actually 5th v 12th, which is quite staggering, really,

01:42and that kind of sums it all up, really, basically. You've got two teams at opposite ends of the

01:47table. You've got one who seems to have really turned the corner in Luton, having won three

01:51out of the last five, and one who was very much stuttering along, really. So, yeah, it's

01:57another really hard one to call, I think. Obviously, I think if Leeds were flying and

02:01on song and had a string of wins to the name, you would fully expect them to go there and

02:04win and win by a few goals. But again, so many facets, and this almost feels like we're

02:10talking about the Portsmouth game beforehand. I think we said similar things about the Portsmouth

02:13game before, and other games as well, even QPR, and you just hope you're wrong again.

02:18You can see why there's jeopardy in this one and why it's another potential banana skin.

02:22You've got the 12.30 kickoff again, and there's just no hiding from it. Leeds haven't got

02:26a good record in them recently, just haven't. There's no doubt about that. Obviously, it's

02:30a long trip as well down to Luton. Obviously, Luton are in form, they've won three out of

02:34the last five. Then you've got the question marks about Leeds' recent form. So there's

02:38various things stacking up there, but you would just hope that the bottom line is really

02:42here is that, without any disrespect to Luton, that Leeds have got better players, and those

02:47better players turn up on the day, and they just produce what they're capable of. They're

02:50going to have to start doing it soon, because if they don't start doing it soon, it'll get

02:54to the stage where we're recording these shows and Leeds are third, and then they really

02:58are chasing down. It's a huge opportunity, because the kickoff at 12.30, the same time

03:03as Burnley go to Coventry, which is obviously a huge game. Everybody was hoping for a favourite

03:09from Coventry against Sheffield United, but that was obviously away. This might be a bit

03:14at Coventry. I think Burnley are favourites, but there's not a lot in it. Even if that was a draw

03:19and Leeds won at Luton, that would change the picture. Obviously, it would open up a two-point

03:25gap back to Burnley. Sheffield United play at three o'clock away at Oxford. So basically,

03:31Leeds know that if they go there and win, they will go top. Obviously, it might only be for a

03:35couple of hours, and you'd probably expect Sheffield United to win at Oxford. But all

03:39three teams are away from home, so it feels like a massive on the same day, and it just feels like

03:43a massive, massive day in the promotion race, this 100%. After that, there'll only be six games

03:47left. So Luton have also got a stack of injuries. I think there's about five, six players out,

03:51all doubtful. So they've done very, very well under Matt Bloomfield to have turned the corner

03:55of late, given those injuries. But it starts getting to the stage where you can talk about

04:00Leeds' recent fall, about Luton's turnaround, about 12.30 kickoff. But there comes a time when

04:05you need to stop looking for excuses, and you just need to go out and win. And it's getting to the

04:09stage now where they need to do that. Because especially with Daniel, especially with Middlesbrough

04:13coming up on Tuesday night. I mean, they've not had the best season, maybe quite as expected,

04:18but they're still only just outside the playoffs, aren't they? I think they're outside the playoffs

04:22on goal difference. Yeah, they're level with six. Yeah, that's a very, very hard game. They've got

04:27very, very good players. The atmosphere at Riverside, it'll be absolutely a cracking

04:31atmosphere. The home fans will be well up for it. And as I say, no disrespect to Luton,

04:37they've done very, very, very well. They might still stay up, and the manager's gone in and

04:40done a very good job there. But Leeds have got to go there and win now.

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