Paul Merson believes that the return of capacity crowds to Elland Road could work against Leeds United this season.
Merson was speaking prior to Leeds’ 5-1 defeat at Manchester United and claimed that Whites supporters will not accept their side being on the end of regular hidings, which was the case on occasions at times last season and happened again during their Premier League opener.
Next weekend’s fixture with Everton will be the first time since 2004 that Leeds will play in the Premier League in front of a full Elland Road.
Following a ninth-placed finish last season, where all but two of Leeds’ fixtures were played behind closed doors, optimism is high among supporters as they anticipate further improvement from their side.
This, though, could work against the Whites according to Merson, who was speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday yesterday.
He said: “I am a neutral, I love watching Leeds play, I love it. You know what you are going to get. Entertainment. Open the game up.
“Let’s be honest, there are going to be five or six thousand Leeds fans there today, they don’t want to start getting beat six. Then we are all sitting there going ‘oh, what a lovely team to watch’.
“Now that the crowds are back, it’s a different game. Major pressure. They got beat four by Leicester (last season), didn’t they? The crowd isn’t going to be happy with us being happy with the way they play.
“Over the years it hasn’t. These are bigger players. They used to have a great team many years ago. But I don’t think the teams in between that have been able to handle the pressure of Leeds and how big the club is. These players might.”
