Leeds United could have a massive say as to who stays in the Premier League next season, facing West Ham on Sunday as Spurs host Everton.
Daniel Farke’s men are already safe, meaning the heart rate of all those supporters who make the trip down to East London this weekend will be a lot lower than if the Whites needed a result against West Ham to stay up.
West Ham are currently two points behind Spurs. It means the Hammers must beat Leeds and hope Everton beat Tottenham in order to stay up on the final day.
Simon Jordan predicts Leeds United to get a result against West Ham
If West Ham drew and Tottenham lost, this would likely also not be enough due to the gap in goal difference between the two sides. And, pundits have recently weighed in on what could end up being a dramatic final day.
Going into the game on Sunday, whilst a result is not necessary for Farke’s side, they could still finish as high as 11th if results go their way.
When previewing the game at the London Stadium, Simon Jordan had his say on the relegation battle live on talkSPORT.
“My belief is that Spurs will stay up, I’ve always tipped West Ham to go down,” Jordan said.
“Seeing how poor West Ham were against Newcastle, despite the resurgence of West Ham, where they’ve been very competitive in games and unlucky to lose to Arsenal, I think West Ham won’t beat Leeds.”
If Jordan’s prediction is correct, then that would see West Ham fall into the Championship for the first time since 2012.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown seemingly disagreed with Jordan, claiming that “the easy answer is West Ham (to go down), but I think something’s going to happen,” with Keown hinting at the Hammers defeating Leeds and Everton beating Spurs on the final day.
Leeds United should rotate against West Ham as Spurs watch on
Do I think Farke will rotate against West Ham? No. Do I think he should? Absolutely!
If Spurs stay up this season, they will throw so much money at their squad in the summer; surely, they will be back in the top half of the table next season as opposed to battling relegation again.
Even if West Ham do stay up by the skin of their teeth, it is still feasible that some of their better players, such as Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes, still get poached in the summer.
From a Leeds perspective, it would be in our best interests for Spurs to go down, as the more teams involved in that relegation battle next season, the better.
And West Ham are far more likely than Spurs to be in this position again next season.
Whilst we shouldn’t throw the game intentionally with our team selection, I’d still be rotating heavily and handing starts to the likes of Lucas Perri, Lukas Nmecha, Dan James, Willy Gnonto, and Sam Byram.
Still, as I mentioned previously, I cannot see Farke taking a similar approach to this game. So, expect the German to field a full strength side.