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Last season’s late collapse once again hinted at Leeds’ utter lack of mental toughness as they failed to win any of their final four games of the season on route to losing in the playoffs.
Before this nightmare run the Whites were in the driving seat in terms of automatic promotion, but they slipped down to third and were then beaten in the semi-finals of the end-of-season lottery that is the playoffs.
Their opponents were Derby County, and the recently released Championship fixture list has given Leeds a chance to get revenge at the back end of the 2019/20 campaign – April 25th as things stand.
Rivalry
Over the last six months we have seen the birth of a newly-formed rivalry between Leeds and Derby.
Spygate started it, while the chants of ‘stop crying Frank Lampard’ from the Derby players saw the Rams having the last laugh – at least until they were beaten by Aston Villa in the final, that is.
Neither side has forgotten what happened last term and when the two sides meet towards the end of the season, it will surely be a fiery affair.
The need to keep cool
If Leeds are still battling for promotion by the time they head to Pride Park, Marcelo Bielsa must make sure his team head into the game with clear minds.
If they allow themselves to get caught up in the occasion, then the result could very easily be a repeat of the playoffs.
The Whites lost their heads when it came down to it at Elland Road in May. Gaetano Berardi was sent off and poor decision-making from Kiko Casilla and Liam Cooper gifted Derby a goal and a penalty.
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The Argentine must make sure his team only thinks about what’s happening on the pitch rather than the history between the sides off it, or else another dodgy performance against Derby could cost them for the second year running.