Leeds United are ready to ‘feast on a carcass’ when they take on Manchester United at Elland Road on Sunday.
Michael Carrick’s side are rapidly approaching crisis mode having recorded their worst start to a Premier League season in 40 years. His side were booed on three separate occasions by supporters at Old Trafford during the 1-1 draw with Tottenham last Saturday having won just one of their opening six games.
Their woes continued midweek, beaten by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League with Lisandro Martinez speaking out to blast the club’s hierarchy for failing to adequately improve the squad during the summer transfer window, directly calling out the club’s director of football Jason Wilcox.
United are also dealing with injury problems with Benjamin Sesko ruled out again in one of the key areas of the pitch the club failed to strengthen in the summer.
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They now face a daunting trip to Elland Road to take on a Leeds side in excellent form. Daniel Farke’s side were beaten by Arsenal last time out but impressed in north London and sit seven places above United ahead of Sunday’s clash.
Former Leeds defender Matt Kilgallon is convinced his old side will pile more misery on their old rivals, believing the high-energy hosts will run a beleaguered United off the park.
‘Leeds are a full pride of lions, ready to feast on a carcass,’ Kilgallon told Metro via 32Red Belgium.
‘Leeds are going to be out of the traps like greyhounds, and United need to be really cautious with that, because of the crowd and it being a derby. It could be a bloodbath.
‘Leeds United, the players and Farke, are going to smell blood.
‘They’ll have watched them against Tottenham looking weak, no running. Man United are a wounded animal, and if Farke gets that into the players, he will tell them to start quickly, get after them. He will be telling them [United] are a wounded animal, let’s finish them off early doors, get a couple of goals up and then enjoy the game, enjoy the atmosphere, play with no fear.
‘It has been a long time since Leeds United have been a better team than Manchester United.’
The partnership of Youri Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo in United’s midfield has come in for particular criticism with former United captain Gary Neville convinced the pairing is not athletic or dynamic enough for battle.
Leeds’ pairing of Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka meanwhile has that sort of energy and work rate in abundance with Kilgallon believing they will ‘run all over’ the opposition.
‘If you’re not running, I don’t care how good you are,’ Kilgallon said. ‘You look at Tielemans, you look at Mainoo on the ball, they absolutely fantastic out there. But they aren’t getting around the pitch enough at Man Utd.
‘Now they’re going to be up against Ampadu and Tanaka, and their first thing for breakfast is energy. Up and down, they’re all over the place. They’ll sit in at centre half if someone goes forward, they’ll come right back. They pick it up very quickly. They’ll do jobs, anybody’s job and they can run over the top of United too.
‘Are they as good as Mainoo and Tielemans on the ball? Maybe not, but they have the energy and the hustle and bustle and they also have got their own quality. I can just see them running over the top of Man United, I really can. I think it’s going to be a really tough afternoon for them.’