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This has been said far too many times before by thousands of people who are smarter than me about football, but the Championship is a marathon, not a sprint.
Christiansen conceded that Leeds flagged in the second half but said a month ago, Leeds would probably not have ground out a point. Very happy with the first half.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) December 1, 2017
Leeds dominated the first half of the match and probably should have scored another goal to put the match to bed before Aston Villa came back to draw level, but TC’s right that this match was almost the carbon copy of the Derby County match, except that Leeds didn’t completely crumble and give up a late goal to lose the game. Yeah, draws at home kind of suck, and not keeping a clean sheet isn’t ideal, but Villa is a good team with good players, so drawing level with them after 90 minutes to split the points isn’t the worst result in the world, and probably fair after the match that Leeds played.
If Leeds had drawn level in against Derby County and Reading FC instead of allowing back-breaking late goals, Leeds would be in the playoff places right now. Draws happen, the team isn’t going to win them all. It’s better to grab a point when the team hasn’t played a great match than it is to lose all three points.
Anyway, on to the links of the day.
Leeds United Links
Mexico national team captain and Real Betis midfielder Andres Guardado reportedly has caught the eye of Leeds, and the club is rumoured to be interested in him. [Through It All Together]
Recap of last night’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. [Through It All Together]
Jack rated how the Leeds players played against Villa. [Through It All Together]
England and English football Links
Our friends at Brace the Hammer go into detail about all of the issues that currently surround West Ham United and the London Stadium after yesterday’s announcement by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan that he intends on re-negotiating the deal that London has with West Ham. [Brace the Hammer]
Non-league AFC Flyde will have a replay with League One Wigan Athletic after Flyde drew 1-1 with Wigan at home. [BBC.com]
England was drawn against Belgium, Tunisia, and Panama in their World Cup group, and England manager Gareth Southgate believes that Belgium deserve to be favorites. [Sky Sports.com]
World Football Links
Sweden, and Pontus Jansson, will have a difficult group in this summer’s World Cup in Russia. [Through It All Together]
A quick look at “winners” and “losers” from the World Cup draw. [SB Nation]
Juventus ended Napoli’s undefeated run in Serie A with a 1-0 victory in Turin. [Black & White & Read All Over]