Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has given his definitive verdict on whether Leeds United are a bigger club than Sunderland.
Leeds United finished ahead of Sunderland in the Championship last season, winning automatic promotion, while the Black Cats were forced to take part in the play-offs.
However, the Wearsiders have enjoyed a stronger start to the Premier League season by storm, currently sitting sixth in the table, nine points ahead of Leeds after 14 games.
The two sides still have some time to wait before they meet for the first time this season, and Daniel Farke will be hoping his side will have closed the gap slightly on their former Championship rivals as he looks to guide his side away from relegation trouble.
Despite Sunderland’s strong start to the season, Jordan has explained why he believes Leeds remain the bigger club of the two Premier League rivals.
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Simon Jordan believes Leeds United are a bigger club than Sunderland
Speaking on TalkSport on 4th December, Jordan explained why he believes Leeds still have the upper hand over their fellow newly-promoted side.
According to Jordan, Leeds offer more to the Premier League when they are operating at full tilt than the Black Cats do.
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Jordan said: “Leeds are a big club. with big expectations. They’ve been up. They were a side under Bielsa that challenged people’s thinking about how bold they were going to be. Then they lost their way when Jesse Marsh came in. They’ve gone down, they’ve come back up again. They’re just a bigger club in scale.
“Sunderland are a big club, but it’s a club that’s been in the doldrums. Like when Leeds went up after about 17 years of being out of the Premier League, they came up as a revelation, and they really challenged the Premier League with Bielsa’s style of football.
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“Then they got found out in the second season. I just had an anticipation that maybe Leeds would be bigger and better and bolder than Sunderland.”
He added: “Is Leeds a bigger club than Sunderland? In my view, yes. Does it occupy an opportunity to have real scale? If Leeds United were really operating at full tilt, then the Premier League is better for having Leeds United in it.”
Leeds United should be outperforming Sunderland in the Premier League
Sunderland have been the undoubted surprise package in the top flight this season, as they continue to punch above their weight in the table.
However, according to the data from Opta, Leeds should be significantly outperforming their rivals, based on the stats providers’ expected league table.
What the pundits said about Leeds and Daniel Farke after the win over Chelsea 👏
Stephen Warnock: “The last game and a half could change Leeds’ season, with the new system and the belief. They look a completely different team now.”
Conor Coady: “Leeds were fantastic. You talk about bogey teams and I think they are Maresca’s bogey team, he always seems to struggle against them.”
Gary Neville: “The way in which they played tonight will see them pick up more points.There’s a lot to like about what we saw.”
Stuart Dallas: “Leeds were bang on it. The manager deserves credit, he could’ve have easily gone back to what he believes in, but he stuck with it and deserves credit.”
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According to Opta’s data, Sunderland should be languishing in 18th place based on the underlying data from their games, with a points total of 14.6 and a goal difference of -6.3.
By contrast, Leeds should be closer to Sunderland’s current position, with the win over Chelsea lifting them up to ninth in the expected table, with 20.3 points, and an expected goal difference of -1.3.
While expected data is never a perfect measure, it shows the full extent of Sunderland’s overperformance to date. It also suggests that Leeds could close the gap as the season progresses.
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