Philippe Clement demands bravery from his Norwich players
Leeds United are set to host Norwich City in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Elland Road later today and are firm favourites to progress in the competition.
Daniel Farke’s men are coming into the game on the back of two league defeats against Manchester City and Sunderland, respectively, and will hope to get a better result against Championship opponents today.
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Norwich are the underdogs for the big cup game, but they are in roaring form at the moment, winning 10 of their last 13 games in all competitions this season.
The Canaries are unlikely to be a pushover for Leeds today, and Philippe Clement has demanded that his players show their true level against the Whites at Elland Road.
Philippe Clement challenges his Norwich players against Leeds
Norwich City have been playing on the front foot during their good run of form, and Clement insisted that he does not want his players to change their style against a Premier League team such as Leeds.
He stressed that he does not want anyone in his team who are afraid to go up against Leeds at Elland Road and want his team to play at their best level today.
The Norwich boss pointed out that they are one of the best teams in the Championship on current form and must show up today against a Premier League side.
“I want that freedom in every game. You haven’t seen the team playing with fear. I hate that”, Clement said.
“If players have fear, then I don’t want them on the pitch. I want to see brave players who believe in themselves and in their teammates and who go full for it with all their bodies and minds to get a victory.
“I got a lot of that back from this team and this squad. So we had a periodic review yesterday of what we do every nine or ten games. What they did in that period has been amazing.
“We’ve been leading in every sense, almost every metric in the league. So if you saw those two reviews before, it was nine points out of 15. It’s like a miracle what the players have done. So we need to continue that way.”
The Whites need a result today
Leeds are focused on securing Premier League safety, but this is a great chance for the team to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
The Yorkshire giants have not reached the last eight of the competition since the 2002/03 season, and facing Championship opponents gives them a chance to make it happen for the first time in almost a quarter-century.
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Round where Leeds United were eliminated from the FA Cup in each of the last five seasons
An FA Cup exit against Norwich today could further dent the confidence of the side after back-to-back Premier League defeats.
Getting a result today has become far more important after the last two results, despite Premier League safety being the priority for the Whites.