Ex-Australian international Mark Schwarzer believes Leeds United's late season disciplinary record could cost them their status in the Premier League ahead of their relegation D-day clash with Brentford. Leeds travel to Brentford on Sunday knowing that even if they do win against the Bees, they might not be safe should Burnley beat Newcastle.
A plus-20 goal difference separates Burnley and Leeds, despite the fact the pair sit level on points in the Premier League table. Leeds will have to better the result of Burnley, how host the Magpies at Turf Moor.
Leeds would not be in this situation had they managed to pick up points against Arsenal or Chelsea weeks prior to their season finale. While they earned up a late stoppage-time point against Brighton last weekend, the games against Arsenal and Chelsea saw Leeds' lack of discipline hinder their relegation fight.
Red cards for Luke Ayling against Arsenal and Dan James against Chelsea all but destroyed Leeds' hopes of picking up a result against the two London clubs. While wins in either of these matches was unlikely, both Arsenal and Chelsea have dropped plenty of points lately in uncharacteristic fashion.
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And speaking on Sky Sports, Schwarzer, who made over 500 Premier League appearances, reckons their lack of discipline could cost Leeds dearly ahead of the clash against Brentford.
"I think it's [Leeds' disciplinary record] been very costly," said Schwarzer. "You look at the performance away at Arsenal, Luke Ayling being sent off.
"They were already 2-0 down but it was still very early in the game. It almost eliminated their opportunity to get back in the game and then last week against Chelsea, with Daniel James being sent off. Again, it was 1-0 at the time and it was early in the match.
"You've really got such a task ahead of you with only 10 men against a good team, and also when you're not on form. The problem is the pressure. With Leeds, certainly with those guys, they're not guys you'd expect to commit those sorts of challenges. I think it's all about the pressure, the importance of the games.
"Players have to keep in check their emotions, as best they possibly can and they've got to focus at the job at hand and get a performance. It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be a performance that they need. Leeds have to go to Brentford with one result in mind. Win it and hope the Burnley result goes in their favour."
