'Now Sam Allardyce is in charge': Paul Merson predicts Man City v Leeds result

Leeds United will hope to spring a huge upset when they head to Manchester City for Saturday’s 3pm kickoff.

The Whites are in dire straits and their Premier League status is on the line with just four games to go.

Leeds currently sit 17th in the table on 30 points, ahead of 18th-placed Nottingham Forest on goal difference.

This week, the Elland Road hierarchy opted to sack Javi Gracia and bring in relegation battle veteran Sam Allardyce.

However, the firefighter couldn’t have asked for a more difficult fixture to get his Leeds tenure under way.

Man City have hit form at just the right time as they look to retain the title, and are nigh-on unstoppable at present.

They have won their last nine league matches in a row, and five of those victories were by a three-goal margin.

Man City also beat both Arsenal and Liverpool 4-1, and have a striker who has just broken the Premier League record for goals in a single season.

Needless to say, it’s a pretty tough proposition for Leeds as they gear up for four cup finals over the coming weeks.

Paul Merson, writing in his weekly Sportskeeda column, previewed the game and predicted the result.

The Premier League legend feels Allardyce’s arrival will make it a “harder game” for Man City.

However, he reckons Pep Guardiola’s charges will still have way too much for Leeds, predicting a 3-0 home win.

“It does become a harder game now that Sam Allardyce is in charge,” wrote Merson. “But it still won’t make much of a difference.

“Leeds will be kicking themselves for not making this decision before Bournemouth, as that could make all the difference at the end of the season.

“I just don’t see anything but a Manchester City win, it just remains to be seen how many they win by.”

Our view

Admittedly, most of the signs are pointing towards a City victory against Leeds.

They’ve been swatting teams aside over the past few weeks, including the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.

And Haaland’s season has been so good, it wouldn’t be surprising to see DVDs made of it.

However, Allardyce will probably be thinking along the lines of ‘good, write us off, we’ll show you’.

Let’s hope Leeds can pull off a shock result and make things interesting at both ends of the table.

After all, Sean Dyche managed something similar against Arsenal in his first game in charge of the Toffees.