Darren Bent drops clear Leeds United claim involving Leicester City and Southampton | OneFootball

Darren Bent has claimed that Leeds United are better than Leicester City and Southampton currently.

Summary

Former striker and pundit Darren Bent has claimed that Championship leaders Leeds United are “probably better” than Premier League strugglers Leicester City and Southampton.

One prominent topic of conversation among EFL and Premier League fans is the gulf in class between the top flight and the Championship. Over recent years, evidence has suggested that this gap has increased, as teams are now able to spend more and more money, putting newly promoted sides at a disadvantage.

Last season, all three promoted teams were relegated straight back to the Championship, and that trend is currently set to continue as it stands. Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton, who all came up last year, currently occupy the bottom three places.

This has seen the former Aston Villa forward claim that the current Championship leaders are “probably better” than the Foxes and the Saints. In an interview with TalkSport, Bent stated that he believes Leeds have already virtually secured automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Darren Bent makes Leeds United, Leicester City, and Southampton claim

Leeds were pipped to promotion by Southampton at Wembley last season, following one of the most exciting promotion battles in recent years. However, despite remaining in the Championship and losing the ‘richest game in football’, Bent believes the Whites are currently better than the team that put them to the sword in the capital.

The former England international told TalkSport: “They’re probably better than two of the bottom three.

“I always feel like it’s hard to compare on paper because you don’t know. When you get up there it’s whether you can handle it or you can’t.

“Only time will tell, because when they went up last time under [Marcelo] Bielsa, that first season they were absolutely brilliant. Either way, what Leeds are doing now time will tell when they get back to the Premier League. Are they equipped to deal with it? They're certainly a big side, they’ll certainly attract the players, and they’ll certainly get some good players in.”

Leeds United as good as up according to ex-striker

After a heartbreaking end to last season, United have displayed no hangover this time around and are keen to right the wrongs by going one better this time around. Daniel Farke’s side is sitting five points clear at the top of the Championship following a statement 3-1 win over promotion rivals, Sheffield United.

After this result, Bent went on to say: “The game [vs Sheffield United] was fantastic, and that’s what I love about Championship football. You very rarely get a side thinking ‘actually, let’s just try to hold on.’

“They go for it and those two sides, who are two of the three best teams in the division, absolutely going for it. At one point, I thought Sheffield United had it but for Leeds to get back.

“When Firpo scored the header, I thought ‘here we go’ and Leeds have a never-say-die attitude. Seven points ahead of third now, I think that might be it. Unless they fall off a cliff, they have 12 games left to go, they have a goal difference of +50 – unless they fall off a cliff, they’re up.”

Leeds are certainly catching the eye this season, with plenty of qualities of a promotion-winning side on show. The never says die attitude that Bent talks about is often a key attribute of a successful side, so to show that against arguably their closest rivals bodes very well for their promotion prospects.