Leeds take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with both teams in search of a big win that would help give their season a lift.
Graham Potter has come under intense scrutiny after Chelsea’s season has derailed with several worrying results. The former Brighton boss has struggled to get his squad firing, which is a difficult task with the raft of new players that Chelsea have splashed out on.
Potter’s Blues go into the weekend on the back of three defeats in a row in all competitions, with just one win in their last 11 games in all competitions. They were humiliated when beaten 1-0 at home to bottom-of-the-table Southampton two weeks ago, before following that up with a London Derby loss at the hands of Tottenham last weekend. Goals from Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane condemned the Blues to a 2-0 defeat against their London rivals, leaving Chelsea even further behind.
Chelsea sits midtable, tenth in the league standings. The West London outfit are four points behind Brentford and Brighton in ninth and eighth places, five adrift of Liverpool in seventh, and 14 points behind fourth-place Spurs.
Leeds travel to the capital after picking up a big win over Southampton in their last league game. Before then, the Yorkshire outfit had lost three of their last four league games and were without a win in their last 10 league games – a poor run that cost Jesse Marsch his job at Elland Road. Javi Gracia took over and got his reign off to the best possible start, with Junior Firpo’s second-half goal being enough for the narrow win over another relegation candidate.
The Whites are 17th in the table, with just one point separating them from the bottom three. Everton in 18th and Bournemouth in 19th both sit on 21 points, so could leapfrog Leeds with wins this weekend.
Leeds returns to Premier League action after bowing out of the FA Cup in midweek. A first-half strike from Joao Palhinha and a second-half beauty from Manor Solomon secured a 2-0 win for Fulham in their Fifth-Round tie on Tuesday night.