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Chapter 238 Top of the List
In the end, relying on Long Bisheng's hat-trick and Snodgrass' icing on the cake, Leeds United beat Crewe [-]-[-] in an away game. While creating the longest seven-game winning streak this season, they also made their position in the standings further stable. Although they are still only one point ahead of Peterborough, with Leicester City's draw in this game, Leeds United are only six points behind the top of the table!
One less game, six points behind!Compared with the gap of more than two digits before, the gap is now only a distance within reach!

You know, in the penultimate round of the league, Leeds United still have a chance to confront Leicester City head-on!

Although no promotion quota has been locked, at this time, Leeds United already has a chance to win the championship!
It is for this reason that, in the No.40 round, when Leeds United played against Milton Keynes at home, the Elland Road Stadium was full for the first time this season!
The significance of this game to Leeds United is equally important!
Although Milton Keynes has been left behind by Leeds United by as much as seven points, they still have a chance to enter the top two. If they can directly beat Milton Keynes in this game, it will undoubtedly kick this most threatening opponent except Leicester City and Peterborough out of the top two battles, making the situation of the last six rounds more clear!

Milton Keynes is not in good shape recently. This team, which was the only team that could pose a threat to Leicester City in the middle of the season, has been dragged down by two-line battles recently. They lost to Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
It seems that low-level teams should not have any extravagant hopes for the FA Cup and the League Cup. Although these two cups are called "hotbeds of upsets", for teams struggling in League One, if they have the ability to enter the second half of these two cups, then their more realistic goal should be to enter the British Championship next season!Regardless of his own shortcomings in strength, he reluctantly wants both, watermelon and sesame, but in the end he can only fight with chicken and eggs.

In this regard, it is really a good thing that Leeds United lost three consecutive cup games shortly after the start of the league, allowing them to focus all their attention on the league.

It is of course a good thing to be able to try to make a breakthrough in the cup, but for the lower-level teams, it seems unlikely that they will have the luck to win the final championship, and when they are eliminated in the cup, facing the league that has been greatly affected (this is almost absolute, the low-level teams cannot have too deep bench thickness, they can only focus on the cup, and the league is of course affected), how strong the desire to win the players who have exhausted their energy in the cup. What about the league?

The result of this competition just verified the correctness of this argument.

What was originally thought to be a hard-fought game was won so easily. Beckford, who came back from the suspension, vented all his grievances about not being able to play in the last game. He scored a goal in each half and led the team to easily beat the opponent [-]-[-] at home.

After the game, Beckford was in a good mood. He said triumphantly to Long Bisheng, "Look, I'm two goals ahead of you again. Don't be discouraged. You still have a chance to catch up with me!"

"I believe in that!" Long Bisheng replied with a smile.

McAllister, who saw this scene off the court, was really happy. Such a healthy competition was exactly what he wanted to see—Long Bisheng and Beckford scored goals for fun in these rounds. Who would benefit in the end?Not a club yet!Leeds United can achieve such a good situation today. If it weren't for the crazy goals of these two people recently, how could there be such a good situation today?
After this round of the league, the promotion situation is quite clear!
The leader Leicester City is in a bad state recently. They only won one game in the last three league rounds. In this round of the league, they lost 82-79 away to third-ranked Peterborough.
Even Peterborough's points have reached 78 points, and this team has won six games in a row recently. Although it is not as good as Leeds United's eight-game winning streak, it should not be underestimated!

Leicester City with 82 points, Leeds United with 79 points, and Peterborough with 78 points, the competition for the two places that can directly enter the British Championship in the end must be among these three teams!
The fourth-ranked Millwall has only 68 points. Although it cannot be said that there is no hope, the hope is already very slim. The fifth-ranked Milton Keynes has 67 points, and the sixth-ranked Scunthorpe has [-] points.

For Leeds United, they really have nothing to keep now. They have been in the best state of the season recently. If they can't seize this opportunity to lock in the top two, maybe at the beginning of the play-offs, the players collectively have a low ebb period.

Although McAllister did not know the popular metaphor of China, nor did he know the saying that a person who walks a hundred miles is half-ninety, but he also knew that falling before the finish line is the most embarrassing thing, and he must not let such a thing happen.

Leeds United now have seven games left, away games against Colchester, Leyton Orient, and then back home against Stockport, followed by an away game against Leicester City, followed by a home game against Canmel, an away game against Hartleypool and a home game against Northampton.

This schedule is quite favorable for Leeds United. The strongest opponent is nothing more than Leicester City. Most of the other teams are in the second half of the standings. With Leeds United's current strength and state, there is no big problem in winning.

However, although the away game against Leicester City is the most important, if there is a mistake in other games, then the game against Leicester City may lose its own meaning!

Fortunately, the bet that Beckford and Long must win made Leeds United not need to be afraid of missing goals during this period!

McAllister's eyes fell on Long Bisheng who was talking to Beckford and others—maybe this tall Chinese man is the lucky star that all teams hope to have!Came to Europe at the age of 17, and successfully promoted twice with Naples-will this tall man bring the team good luck for promotion?Maybe Leeds United lacked such a person last season, so they fell short at the final moment of promotion, right?

Young, energetic, friendly, good relationship with other teammates, serious in training, sparing no effort on the field, possessing a strong desire to win... Such a player, even though he is only playing in the League One, his future is not something a League One team can pretend to have!
It was a mistake for Naples to give up such a young center forward... and they seem to have suffered retribution this season. They were considered capable of entering the Champions League next season, and they only ranked No.12 in Serie A. Let alone the Champions League, they failed to touch the edge of the UEFA Cup. From now on, it seems like a joke.

However, how long can Leeds United keep this player?Maybe if he can enter the British Championship this season, he can stay for a while. It is impossible for such a vigorous player to stay in the lower leagues for too long.McAllister thought in his heart with complicated emotions.

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On April [-]th, Leeds United started the first game of the final sprint, away to Colchester.

The game was very difficult. Colchester, who had not yet escaped the relegation zone, put up a tenacious resistance at home. Their rough play made the Leeds United players very uncomfortable. Before the end of the first half, Beckford was kicked by his opponent and injured his thigh. Although the injury was not serious, he could only be forced to leave the field.

In the second half, Long Bisheng scored a golden goal-this goal was considered extremely important after the game, because in another game, Leicester City was tied [-]-[-] at home by Cassel, winning four consecutive rounds!
That leaves Leeds United within one point of Leicester - and they've got a game in hand!Leeds United has won nine games in a row, which is the longest winning streak in League One this season!

And three days later, it will be No.30's eighth round of make-up matches. As long as Leeds United continue to win, they will be able to surpass Leicester City!

But it is a pity that Leeds United's winning streak is fixed at the ninth game.

Leyton Orient is not a very strong opponent. Although in the away game, Leeds United, which has been in great momentum recently, has also taken a big advantage. However, in this game, Leeds United lost their two most important figures in their recent nine-game winning streak. Their striker partners, Beckford who scored 25 goals and Long Bisheng who scored 24 goals!

Beckford was absent due to injury, and McAllister hid him just to be on the safe side, while Long Bisheng was suspended for one game because he received a yellow card at the last moment of the last game and accumulated five yellow cards!
Without the two of them, Leeds United scored two goals despite relying on Delphi and Howson, but they were also scored by their opponents, and they drew with their opponents [-]-[-].

However, for Leeds United, this point is enough for them to tie the points of Leicester City. At the same time, the relationship between goal difference and mutual victory and defeat dominates the standings for the first time this season!
(End of this chapter)