There was a contagious buzz of confidence in the air around the Billy Bremner statue and Elland Road at large as fans arrived for Leeds' mid-afternoon Sunday kick-off against Brentford. Most of this newfound optimism was down to two factors. Firstly, Leeds had put Crystal Palace to the sword during their midweek fixture thanks to a 93rd minute Raphinha penalty and there are very few things that galvanize a crowd like a late winner. Secondly, Leeds were now almost back to full strength and with the right tailwind, could conceivably break the back of any survival bid by the new year.
95 minutes later and Leeds were no longer looking up but rather behind with the latest football betting now pricing the Whites at 5/1 to go down. It was a surreal turn of events after Leeds just scraped a point against Thomas Frank's Premier League newcomers thanks to a late prod by Patrick Bamford. The stalemate, however, came at an almighty cost and the most up-to-date football betting tips do actually suggest that Leeds will now enter a relegation fight.
Indeed, Liam Cooper was substituted after 13 minutes with injury and Kalvin Phillips succumbed to a hamstring strain just after halftime. To add insult to injury, Bamford injured himself whilst celebrating his equalizer in the dying embers. You can all of a sudden see why the Leeds fans become so jittery when the going is seemingly good.
Patrick Bamford went wild after his 95th-minute equaliser 🙌
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 6, 2021
What then is the root cause of the impending doom that has descended over Elland Road? In short, it is down to the news that Kalvin Phillips will be out for a few months and Leeds fans will see their best player returning in February at the earliest. The Elland Road faithful know how tough life is without Phillips and the stats back that up with Leeds only winning around 17% of their games without Phillips whilst enjoying a 50% win ratio when he is in the side. Leeds have only managed to record 16 points so far this season and will need at least another 24 more to extend their Premier League stay. It has become a worrying situation that they will have to win those points without the man that brings Marcelo Bielsa's football to life.
17% - Leeds United have a 17% win rate and earned 0.5 points-per-game in six Premier League matches Kalvin Phillips has missed this season (W1 D0 L5), compared to a 50% win rate and 1.6 points-per-game when he has played a part (W9 D2 L7). Absence. pic.twitter.com/Cs6xWf9Djj
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 19, 2021
It wouldn't be overly sensational to say that Phillips' long term absence could send Leeds into a tailspin over the winter and there is no guarantee that when the 26-year-old does return, that he will have enough time to be able to arrest the nosedive that could see the Whites crash out of the Premier League.
The one crumb of comfort that Leeds United fans can hold onto is that the Elland Road hierarchy have put too much money into Leeds finally getting out of the Championship to see their investment fall apart by returning to the second tier of English football.
In other words, there will be urgent meetings and a constant dialogue taking place across the Atlantic between Andrea Radrizzani and the San Francisco 49ers as they desperately look for a contingency plan to keep Leeds' Premier League dream from stalling.
