“May already be too late” – Pundit feels Leeds’ “huge” trip to Fulham will spell the end

Sky Sports’ Championship expert David Prutton has suggested that a Leeds United win at Fulham on Saturday could spell the end to the Craven Cottage natives’ automatic promotion aspirations.

The Cottagers head into the weekend on a three-game losing streak, that has seen Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites grow what was a two-point advantage to a gigantic 12 point lead, with Scott Parker’s side now only in the Play-Off places through goal difference to Bristol City.

Two wins in their last six Championship fixtures has seen the margin between United and third-placed Preston North End grow to ten points, as well, though Prutton is reluctant to go all-in on Leeds securing promotion as a slight blip in form could see the club begin to look over our shoulder once more.

“This is a huge game for Fulham,” Prutton noted in his column for Sky Sports. “They should be right up there with Leeds and West Brom with the squad they have, but are badly adrift. If they don’t win here, you think it may already be too late for them to make up that gap.

“Leeds really threw that win away against Cardiff last week. They head into the weekend with a 10-point lead over third place, but a few poor results at this level and that can dissipate quickly. I fancy them to bounce back and win here, though.”

While Fulham have lost their last three league games and are now perilously close to being out of reach of United, the Cottagers’ defeats have all been in close affairs.

The South West London outfit were beaten 2-1 at home to Bristol City earlier this month having enjoyed almost twice as much of the possession as their guests, along with striking 21 shots to the Robins’ 12, per WhoScored data, but a want of accuracy saw most of their chances spurned.

It was a closer story when Fulham were beaten at Preston on December 10 and at Brentford on the 14th, as Parker’s men boasted 15% more of the ball at Deepdale and 5% more at Griffin Park, but could only register one shot on target from 15 strikes against the Lilywhites and two from 11 against the Bees.

In other Leeds United news, Bielsa has stated he will have to neutralise the threat of this £22.5m-rated Fulham star on Saturday.