Here are your Leeds United evening headlines, January 1, 2021.
Demba Ba's Bielsa tribute
Former Premier League striker Demba Ba has tweeted his admiration for Marcelo Bielsa out of the blue, accompanying his kind words with a picture of Romain LaPlanche's book on the Argentine.
Ba has never worked with Bielsa, but remains well-connected in French football despite his current posting in Turkey with Istanbul Basaksehir.
The book in question, ' Bielsa - Le Mystere ', loosely translated as 'Bielsa - The Mystery', tells the story of Bielsa's background and how he arrived into coaching in France. His time in France was spent coaching Marseille and Lille in Ligue 1, albeit with more success on the French Riviera.
This is perhaps an explanation for Ba's accompanying tweet last night, which read: "The more I know about him the more I appreciate him."
Senegalese forward Ba is currently with Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir FK, who competed in this year's UEFA Champions League, beating Manchester United in the Group Stage.
Carney deletes Twitter account
Amazon Prime pundit and former England international Karen Carney has removed her personal Twitter profile after receiving significant backlash in the wake of her comments about Leeds United.
Carney had stated on Amazon's coverage of the 5-0 win over West Bromwich Albion that Leeds could perhaps have benefitted from the break in the 2019/20 season.
She implied the stoppage in March allowed them to prepare for the home straight in their bid to gain promotion from the Championship, which was poorly received by Leeds United supporters.
Football pundit and radio presenter Max Rushden has tweeted in response to Carney's decision to delete her account in light of the criticism.
Leeds United also came in for criticism for their decision to tweet out a clip of Carney's punditry. The club issued a statement following the negative response to the tweet condemning the abuse directed at Carney, stating that no harm was intended.
Pundits predict Tottenham vs Leeds
Leeds United are hoping to kick off 2021 with a third-consecutive Premier League victory when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Whites ended 2020 with an emphatic 5-0 victory against West Brom, the second time they have scored five in a match in their four games.
It's three wins from four for Marcelo Bielsa 's side which has lifted them to 11th in the standings, 12 points clear of any relegation trouble.
For Tottenham, their title challenge has faltered after four Premier League matches without victory, leaving them sixth in the table.
Victory for Leeds would move them level on points with Spurs, which seemed unthinkable one month ago and here's how the pundits think the game will go.
Mark Lawrenson
Leeds completely dismantled West Brom earlier this week, and their game plan will be "up and at 'em" here too.
That is exactly how Tottenham like opposing teams to be, though. I just feel it will play into Jose Mourinho's hands a little bit, as his side look to get back to winning ways.
It won't be dull, though. It never is with Leeds - they have you on the edge of your seat, whichever end the ball is at. 2-0
Michael Owen
"It’s now 4 games without a win for Spurs. Jose Mourinho’s men suffered late heartache against Wolves on Sunday and must get back on track here against Leeds.
"Leeds make the trip to North London for the first time since 2003. They arrive here fresh from a 5-0 win away to West Brom, making it 3 wins in 4 Premier League matches.
"Marcelo Bielsa’s side have been a hard team to get a handle on this season. I reckon they will cause Spurs some problems but considering that they have lost half of their away games in the league, I think Spurs may just have too much here."
