Leeds United defender Pontus Jansson has made a massive prediction that Aston Villa could be among those finishing in the top two spots in the Championship this season as he admits the Whites are lucky the Villans are missing Jack Grealish this weekend.
The Swedish defender and the rest of his team head into Sunday’s clash against Dean Smith’s men sitting at the top of the table, with the midlands outfit 12 points behind in eighth place.
However, Jansson insists that Villa are going to be up there come the end of the season and admitted Grealish’s absence through injury is a huge stroke of fortune.
He told Leeds Live: “It will be a tough game against a really good team – one of the best in the league.
“For sure, they are going to be in the top-six, maybe even top-two. They have good players and we are lucky Grealish is injured, as I think he is one of the best players in the league, I have huge respect for him. But they still have a lot of good players.”
Opinion
While Leeds have rocketed to the top of the Championship table from day one, Villa have taken things slow and are playing catch up as a result. There have been a few dropped points in recent weeks thanks to draws instead of wins but they will be feeling confident that they can inflict defeat on Marcelo Bielsa’s men, just as midlands rivals West Brom did a couple of games ago. Jansson is absolutely right to highlight Grealish as a big absence in the Villans’ squad but he is not the only man who can cause real trouble to the Whites and there needs to be a real sense of caution from the visitors to Villa Park on Sunday. Smith has shown an ability to sink high flying sides already and Leeds will be firmly in his sights as the next team to have their wings clipped by his men. Can they make up the difference to those at the top of the table? It will be serious challenge – and one which starts on Sunday afternoon.