Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has urged City to capitalise on Leeds United’s relegation anxiety when the two sides meet in the FA Cup fifth round at Elland Road on Sunday.
Smith said Norwich should exploit any complacency or split focus from a Leeds side preoccupied with Premier League survival.
His comments come days after Daniel Farke’s Leeds suffered a damaging 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland that left them 15th in the table, just six points above the drop zone.
Farke’s side were beaten by a 70th-minute penalty on Tuesday, having had a Joe Rodon header disallowed for offside moments before.
For the record, Leeds managed 18 shots but put only four on target, and Sunderland debutant goalkeeper Melker Ellborg denied Jaka Bijol deep into added time to preserve the clean sheet.
Leeds now face a Premier League survival fight that will, or at least should, be their priority. City, by contrast, arrive in the kind of form that often makes Prem/Championship ties ticky ones for the higher-ranked side.
Philippe Clement has transformed City since taking charge in November, when the club had nine points from 15 matches and, according to his assistant Stephan van der Heyden, a 58% probability of dropping to League One.
The Canaries are now 11 points clear of the Championship relegation zone, fresh from a 2-0 win at Leicester, and the results keep coming.
“I never thought about not being safe, not from the first day I stepped into the building,” Clement said. “That’s been the secret of the story. Not to be looking at others, how they play, what they do, but to look at ourselves and to have the hunger and desire to make it every game better and better.”
Clement is managing 15 senior injuries, yet results have still been consistent. He has dismissed the idea of it being a firefighting mission, instead framing it as the start of a project.
“You are trying to prove the team can perform like a machine that just keeps on going, whoever you put there,” Clement said. “This group is doing that, put their ego aside.”
Leeds enter the match amid their relegation scrap, while City head to Yorkshire with recent momentum. Kick-off is at 4:30pm on Sunday.
We couldn’t could we?
