As Leeds United look to close the gap to Leicester City down to six points on Friday, manager Daniel Farke was asked if his team is currently the best in the league.
Leeds maintains their spot in the automatic promotion spots after Southampton’s defeat last night, provided they win their remaining games to catch up.
The Whites will face a formidable test next, as Leicester City travels to West Yorkshire.
Leeds has gained the advantage of playing more games than they did in January as they have won eight straight and are now in the top two.
Southampton and Ipswich both had opportunities to close the gap yesterday night, but only Ipswich emerged victorious as they required a late winner to defeat a subpar Rotherham team 4-3, while Southampton suffered a 2-1 home loss to a strong Hull City team.
Championship table right now ahead of huge Leeds v Leicester clash
| Position | Club | MP | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Leicester City | 33 | 25 | 3 | 5 | 43 | 78 |
| 2 | Leeds United | 33 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 35 | 69 |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | 33 | 20 | 9 | 4 | 21 | 69 |
| 4 | Southampton | 33 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 24 | 67 |
| 5 | West Brom | 33 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 55 |
| 6 | Hull City | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 54 |
Farke responds to Leeds ‘best in the league’ question
It begs the question of who the best team in the league is at the moment, as Leicester City, who lost at home to Middlesbrough on the weekend, are looking to cut the gap on leaders Leicester City, who have won eight straight games.
When questioned about this at his Wednesday afternoon pre-game press conference, Farke responded as follows. (via the YEP):
“The team who wins the title is the best and most consistent. At the moment you have to say credit to Leicester, otherwise they wouldn’t be in position one. I know we had a bit difficult start, and since this we have collected even more points than them and closed this point gap.“
Farke Is Probably Right
The team that wins the league title in May is usually the greatest one in the league, and Leicester appears to be that team. But a victory on Friday would definitely cause fans at the King Power to become nervous, as they are already wary of Maresca’s style of play.
Later in the press conference, Farke made another observation that having the “best team in the league” and winning the league don’t necessarily translate to success in the Premier League. He made this point by contrasting his 18/19 Norwich team with the Aston Villa squad that advanced through the playoffs that same season.
Daniel Farke Makes Leicester City Prediction
Later this week, Leeds and Leicester are scheduled to play each other in a Championship match at Elland Road at the top of the table.
The league leaders Leicester enter the match fresh off a home loss to Middlesbrough, while the Whites, who have won their last eight games in a row, are now second in the league table.
Although there will be a lot of attention on their Friday night match, Farke believes the outcome won’t likely affect Leicester’s season.
He insisted that regardless of what happens at Elland Road later this week, the Foxes will finish in the top two and earn automatic promotion to the Premier League at the end of the campaign.
Farke said in a press conference: “I spoke quite openly about the situation, even if we win this game, this side [Leicester] will still finish in the top two.
“We want to achieve a special amount of wins to finish in the best possible position, but there’s a lot of work to do.”
On Friday night, Leeds hopes to make a statement by defeating the league leaders with style.