Good Morning. It's Thursday 17th March, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Phillips and Cooper to return against Southampton Jesse Marsch will use the International break to get Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips match fit, at the season reaches its finale. Both players have missed the majority of the season through respective injuries, and fans can't wait to see them back in a Leeds shirt. According to Beren Cross, this may be sooner rather than later. He believes both may be available to play some part, when Southampton visit Elland Road on the 2nd April. “The last we heard from Marsch suggested the international break would be a useful time to get him [Phillips] and [Liam] Cooper back onto the grass and involved in full training. Perhaps a place on the bench against Southampton may be a nice target, but it really has dragged on. There were some optimistic assessments of him being back in early February at one stage, but obviously, that hasn't panned out for him.” please log in to view this image Leeds still bottom of the Fair Play League Leeds have racked up an astonishing 85 bookings so far this season, according to the latest data on 'whoscored.com'. Their biggest culprit is Junior Firpo, who is responsible for nine yellow cards, from only fifteen appearances. Rodrigo has seven bookings, whilst Dan Dames, Raphinha and Diego Llorente all have six. The players with the cleanest records are Meslier (2), Ayling (3), Harrison (3) and Klich (4). Collectively, the Whites have accumulated twenty more bookings than their nearest rival, Newcastle. Jesse Marsch's men also fare badly in aerial duels. On average, Leeds only win 11.5 aerial duels per game, placing them last. Interestingly, they are among the top six for overall shots per game. 35 points to stay up Leeds need 35 points to stay up this season, according to Beren Cross. The Leeds-Live journalist was responding to questions on his weekly Q and A session, when the dreaded subject of Premier League survival once again came up. According to Cross, fans may have to wait until the last game of the season, and hope they can beat Brentford (at the Brentford Community Stadium), to guarantee top flight football next season. Brentford are one of four London clubs (if you count Watford) that Leeds still have to visit this season (Palace and Arsenal being the other two). Let's hope our3-2 win over West Ham at the London Stadium has broken the jynx. Cross wrote:- “The average across the last 10 years for 18th place is 34 points, while the average across the 30 years since the league moved to 20 teams has been closer to 36 points. Going for 35 means three wins should do it for Leeds [United] from their 26-point tally now." "The trip to Watford stands out as the obvious place they need to win, while Brentford on the final day also looks a winnable trip, though I don't fancy the nerves of needing points on the last day to stay up." “You would have to say Southampton and Brighton [& Hove Albion]'s trips to Elland Road have to be considered big opportunities on home turf too, especially if the latter are on the mid-table beach by the time they visit West Yorkshire. My gut says Leeds will do it, but my hopes were very low before the Norwich game. Even that was made to look like hard work. They still need to improve from here. The international break will be important for Marsch to have time on the training pitches with his squad.” please log in to view this image
LEARN YOUR FACTS BEFORE YOU SING YOUR REBEL SONGS A few facts for all the plastic paddys who will be covered in green, drinking pints of Guinness and proclaiming St Patrick as a paragon of Catholicism 1.St Patrick was NOT a Catholic he brought Christianity to Ireland not the RC faith. 2.Pictures of St Patrick wearing a mitre again totally Wrong, St Patrick lived in the 5th century, the mitre didn't come along until the 7th century. 3.The colour BLUE was originally the colour associated with the Saint but again over the years to suit a certain agenda he was portrayed in green. 4.The flag of St Patrick is a red cross (x) on a white background NOT the Irish tricolour. 5.Finally while many will be drinking themselves into oblivion on pints of Guinness let's not forget Arthur Guinness was a fervent Unionist and actually donated money to the UVF enabling them to purchase arms and ammunition in their opposition to Home Rule. HAPPY St. PATRICK'S DAY.
1. ST GEORGE WASN'T ENGLISH... St George might be hailed as a national hero, but he was actually born – in the 3rd century AD – more than 2,000 miles away in Cappadocia (modern day Turkey). He is thought to have died in Lydda (modern day Israel) in the Roman province of Palestine in AD 303. It is believed that his tomb was in Lod and was a centre of Christian pilgrimage. Oh dear oh dear..................a ****ing TURK