There were plenty of positives to be taken from the announcement of the Premier League fixtures for Leeds United. There were, of course, negatives as well but optimism can still be taken from any potential setbacks that were discovered on Thursday morning.
For example, despite the end-of-season run-in looking tough, there are fixtures in April that the Whites can feasibly take potentially vital points from. That positivity can also be reflected when looking at one of the toughest fixtures on paper: the visit of Manchester City to Elland Road on Boxing Day.
That game the day after Christmas Day will be very different to other years as it will be the first round of fixtures back after the conclusion of the winter World Cup. It also won’t precede the usual fixture that is sandwiched between Boxing Day and the New Year’s round of games.
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When looking at the upcoming season, Leeds fans immediately noticed that, while they’ll still be digesting their Christmas dinner, the champions are in town. That fixture – often considered by supporters as one of the most important – was met by immediate worry but there is an argument that there will never be a better time to play Man City.
There will be up to 17 players from Guardiola’s squad playing in Qatar which could mean the Spaniard is without some of his key players for the trip to Leeds. The City players representing the nations who reach the latter stages have just over a week after the final to get back to England to be ready to play Premier League football.
14 of those 17 players are members of the eight squads most fancied to lift the World Cup. Based on bookmakers’ odds, even if those eight nations get to the quarter-finals and are knocked out, they still only have a couple of weeks before they face Leeds at club level.
Injuries and knocks – especially with the short gap between league football and the tournament – are to be expected and the intensity of major tournament football will take its toll on the players. Those mitigating factors are likely to leave Guardiola with a weaker squad to choose from.
Although, as everyone knows, City have arguably the strongest strength-in-depth in world football so whichever team they field at Elland Road will pose a huge test for Jesse Marsch’s side. Permitting he isn’t injured between now and then, there is also the small matter of Leeds-born Erling Haaland. The prolific hitman will not be in Qatar for the World Cup as Norway were unable to qualify so he will have a six-week break prior to returning to West Yorkshire.
Leeds will also have some of their players on international duty in November and December but it will probably only be six or seven members of the squad. Those players - outside of Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, who may not be at the club towards the end of the year – are much less likely to make it to the latter stages of the tournament than their Man City counterparts.
That should leave Marsch with the majority of his players available for arguably the toughest game of the campaign. Dependent on who is or isn’t available for the visitors, Leeds may not have a better opportunity to beat City for a second time when they travel across the Pennines on Boxing Day.
