The Premier League Panel: Can Leeds survive in the PL?

Can Leeds succeed where so many promoted sides have failed? Our expert panel looks at their prospects for the 2025/26 season.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to part two of the Premier League panel where we're looking at Leeds' chances of success

00:08in the top flight next season and where we're joined by another special guest. Jason Jones

00:13from the Sunderland Echo is going to furnish us with his opinions in the second half of the show.

00:18Jason, I'll come to you first to kick the second half off. I mean, we've spoken a little bit about

00:23Leeds, you know, sort of what Daniel Farker's doing there, the qualities that they have and

00:27the issues they might find when they sort of get up to the Premier League. I wanted to ask,

00:31when you look at teams like Leeds and Burnley as well this season, who've been dominant in the

00:34second team, both reaching 100 points this season, can you really tell how well they will do in the

00:40Premier League? Because you look, Burnley two years ago, 101 points, really dominant in the league,

00:44came straight back down. Leicester, 97 points last season, straight back down. Do you actually get

00:50an insight into what will happen in the Premier League for these teams when they're in the

00:53Championship? Or is the gap just so big that you really can't tell anything from the season?

00:59Yeah, I mean, look, the sort of harsh reality of the nature of that gap between the Premier League

01:04and the Championship at the moment is that, as you say, teams can really impress in the second tier

01:08and ultimately still not really lay a glove on the top. Like, we've seen that over the past two

01:13seasons. Obviously, all six clubs that have gone up over the past two seasons have come straight back

01:18down. You know, with regards to Leeds and Burnley, given the work that they've done in the

01:27Championship, you would have to say that they both stand a real fighting chance of making their mark

01:31on the Premier League. You know, obviously, it has to be said as well that the squads that they're

01:35operating with right now aren't necessarily the ones that they'll be operating with from the first

01:39weekend of the Premier League campaign. I always think that it's a really crucial factor that has to be

01:44taken into consideration is the recruitment between a Championship campaign and then the

01:48following Premier League season, you know. So, I understand what you're saying in the sense that,

01:53you know, given what we've seen from Leeds and Burnley this season, how much of that do we kind

01:58of just have to chuck out the window and go again, you know, come August? And I think there is a certain,

02:04you know, there is a certain amount of veracity that, like, you kind of, you have to understand

02:10that this is a fresh start. It's a clean start and it is going to be an uphill battle for both

02:14clubs. But what I would say is that, you know, certainly with both teams and from a Sunderland

02:20perspective, having seen them and sort of largely been in a promotion battle with them to a certain

02:25point this season, obviously, we sort of ran away with it over the past few months. But, you know,

02:30there are certainly aspects of both squads that would suggest that they have a real fighting

02:36chance. You know, the manner in which Burnley have set themselves up as a sort of really

02:41stingy defensive unit has been almost otherworldly at times. You think about that unbelievable run

02:47of clean sheets that they went on. And then, obviously, the sort of, the figure with which

02:53Daniel Farker's Leeds have really attacked the upper echelons of the Championship, you know,

02:56the attack and talent that they possess and the style of player that he is to be trying to,

03:01you know, sort of engender in that squad. Then, if he can get that right and if he can get the

03:05right players coming in, then surely they also would have a chance, you would assume.

03:09But it's certainly going to be difficult for both teams, as it would for anybody coming

03:13up from the Championship.