Joe Hart Credit: Imago
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Leeds United were held to a 0-0 draw by Brentford at Elland Road on Saturday, picking up a point in their battle to stay in the Premier League.
It wasn’t the home win they were hoping for, and it extends their winless league run to six games. Still, they managed to avoid defeat and add to their tally.
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Results elsewhere helped their cause, with West Ham losing to Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest claiming a big win over Tottenham, leaving Leeds 16th and four points clear of the drop.
Those outcomes have also led Joe Hart to make a bold call on which teams he believes are now most likely to be relegated this season, including his thoughts on Leeds’ result against Brentford.
Joe Hart drops bold relegation call amid Leeds’ battle to survive
Leeds’ point against Brentford has proved to be vital in the context of the results at the bottom of the table on Sunday.
Tottenham lost a relegation six-pointer against Nottingham Forest, and the manner of their 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest was even more concerning.
Hart pointed out that every team in that area of the league table are battling, showing something and picking up points, except Tottenham, who do not look like getting a result anywhere.
He stressed that even Leeds’ 0-0 draw at home against Brentford is now looking like a good result for the home side.
Hart said on MOTD: “That’s been apparent over the last couple of weeks [Spurs’ Premier League future being in doubt].
“I think it was one of those a few weeks ago, where it was, are they going to be in that relegation battle? They fully are now.
“The teams around them know they’re in the battle, and Forest showed up today, they were excellent, West Ham have shown some good signs recently, Leeds with a good point now, it looks like at the weekend, but Tottenham, you just can’t see where they’re gonna get their next win from.”
The Whites have opportunities to wrap up Premier League safety soon
Defeats for West Ham and Tottenham on Sunday meant Leeds stayed exactly where they were before the weekend, 16th in the table and four points above the relegation zone.
But there’s no room for complacency, with the bottom end still incredibly tight, and Daniel Farke has suggested they may need as many as seven more points to stay up.
Premier League Bottom Six – Relegation Battle
The latest Premier League standings show the teams battling to avoid relegation
Pos Club P W D L GF GA GD Pts
15 Leeds United 31 7 12 12 37 48 -11 33
16 Nottingham Forest 31 8 8 15 31 43 -12 32
17 Tottenham Hotspur 31 7 9 15 40 50 -10 30
18 West Ham United 31 7 8 16 36 57 -21 29
19 Burnley 31 4 8 19 33 61 -28 20
20 Wolverhampton Wanderers 31 3 8 20 24 54 -30 17
With home games against Wolves and Burnley, as well as a trip to Tottenham still to come, Leeds will see these fixtures as key to securing their Premier League status.
They can’t keep relying on other teams slipping up — at some point, they’ll need to take control of their own survival push.