Manchester United travel to Elland Road on Sunday, five days after their 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek.
Leeds will have less rest than Manchester United ahead of Sunday’s clash at Elland Road(Image: MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Leeds head coach Daniel Farke has claimed the fixture list favours Manchester United heading into Sunday’s clash at Elland Road. United last played on Tuesday night when they produced a lacklustre 1-1 draw with bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Two days later Leeds travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool in a 5.30pm kick off on Merseyside. That game ended goalless meaning the Yorkshire club’s unbeaten run now stretches to six matches. Speaking after the final whistle at Liverpool, Farke admitted he was annoyed with the decision makers.
“We know how much it means to our supporters this game,” Farke replied when asked about the rivalry with United. “I’m really a bit annoyed with the fixture list and an evening kick-off today and then the earliest possible on Sunday, especially once you had two away games already with lots of traveling.
“But again, it is what it is, we have to accept this, lots of adversity against us. Many, many key players out, the fixture list more or less in favour of Man United, but we still have Elland Road.
“We know when this place is rocking like no other, and everyone is on it, even under these circumstances, we will have a chance.” Doubling down on his stance, Farke added: “I hope they can recover quickly and we’ll see probably some late decisions for Sunday, when we have the earliest possible kick-off, straight after breakfast more or less, whyever this is after a late evening kick-off today.
“So Man United since two days already on the sofa, whatever. We will find solutions for this fixture and at Elland Road, even if the legs will be a bit tight, we also have a chance, and we’ll go for it again on Sunday.”
This weekend will mark Ruben Amorim’s first taste of the rivalry with Leeds. While he has experienced plenty of high stakes games during his time as a player with Benfica and a manager at Sporting, he insisted he could not draw comparisons to help him deal with the task awaiting him at Elland Road on Sunday.
“It is different, I have never experienced this one,” Amorim admitted. “In Portugal, there is big rivalries, here it’s the same.
“Different environment, different culture but the noise is going to be big. We just have to perform but it is hard to compare different cultures, different derbies, different history.
“Let’s just focus on the game – it is 11 guys vs our 11 in the beginning and we will try to win. When you play for United you need to be ready for everything.
“You guys have the best league in the world. Every game now and you see every week there is a lot of draws, you never understand what is going to happen at the end of that week. So it is going to be tough but it is always tough nowadays in the Premier League.”