Who: Leeds United vs Manchester United What: English Premier League Where: Elland Road, Leeds, United Kingdom When: Sunday, October 18, at 2pm local time ( ) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have all the build-up from ahead of our live text commentary stream Manchester United against Leeds United has long been one of the fiercest rivalries in football. The former’s closest shot to ending their wait since 1967 for an English top flight title came in 1993 when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were pipped to the title by the latter. The following year United’s wait was over as Ferguson’s side – buoyed by the arrival of Eric Cantona from Leeds – lifted the inaugural Premier League crown.
The rest for United and Ferguson was history, but since the most successful manager in English football retired the Old Trafford club have been in decline. The fortunes of Leeds, who have won three league titles, dipped dramatically after that last piece of domestic silverware. Ten years later, they were relegated and three years were even spent in League One, the third tier of English football.
Now the Elland Road club are back in the top flight, having won the Championship two seasons ago, and have an eye on the top four this weekend. Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the match that for Leeds marks the arrival of their fiercest rivals, who have lurched to a 40-year low. Leeds have lost only one of their six league games this season, a 2-1 reverse at Arsenal in their last match when the Premier League holders were second best for much of the match and were forced to come from behind.
Two wins and two draws in their first five league matches saw Leeds holding onto the coat-tails of Arsenal and City. That run culminated with a stunning 4-1 home win against Newcastle United. A disappointing home draw with Crystal Palace sat in between the defeat at Arsenal.
A 6-3 defeat at Chelsea ended their League Cup hopes, but the home side needed two goals in the last ten minutes to pull clear in the thrilling encounter. United’s season – and Michael Carrick’s start as permanent manager – couldn’t have got off to a worse start with a 2-0 defeat at newly-promoted Hull City. When the Red Devils fell a goal behind against another promoted side, Ipswich Town, at Old Trafford in their next match, the warning signs were there.
Carrick’s side came back to win 5-2 – and that remains United’s only league win of the season. A contentious 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City – in which a controversial VAR decision separated the sides – has been one of United’s better performances with deflating draws against Everton, Fulham and Tottenham surrounding the derby. United were also dumped out of the League Cup by Brighton, who overcame the home side’s early 2-0 first-half lead to the disbelief of Old Trafford.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
