Leeds fighting for survival in grudge match at Brentford

LEEDS go into Sunday’s Premier League finale in desperate form and, thanks to last night’s results, in desperate need of a good one themselves.

But even a win at Brentford may not be enough. With Everton safe, Jesse Marsch’s side trail Burnley on goal difference, somehow a whopping 20 worse off, despite having picked up the same number of points.

A draw and a favour from Newcastle at Turf Moor is the minimum required to keep the Yorkshire side in the division, so it is unfortunate that they face a Bees side who are one of the League’s form teams and would be only too happy to be the club to kick them out of it.

There persists an unlikely rivalry between the two clubs, stemming from the race for automatic promotion in the Championship two seasons ago, when Thomas Frank claimed Leeds should “fear” travelling to Griffin Park because of the home side’s good form, only for a 1-1 draw to start a run of five games without a victory for the Bees, who eventually went on to lose against Fulham in the Play-Off Final.

Leeds fans were riled by the suggestion — and videos from the time of both supporters and players singing “Mind the gap, Thomas Frank” as they celebrated their eventual promotion have re-emerged on social media ahead of this weekend’s game.

Frank (left) admitted yesterday to regretting his comments, and played down the rivalry, insisting that there is “no story”.

“Let me put it this way, I will not use it [as motivation],” the Dane said of the chance to relegate Leeds.

That may well be the case, but Brentford fans are already looking forward to the possibility, as their in-form side seek to end a remarkable debut Premier League season on a high in front of a home crowd.