Beto brace helps Everton beat Chelsea | Leeds Brentford share the spoils in stalemate

0:06Welcome to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. There were two games live on Sky Sports on Saturday evening with Everton against Chelsea, followed by Leeds versus Brentford. This is how we saw things at the end of the night.

0:30And that is that. Well, it was a big opportunity, a missed opportunity, or a crucial point. We'll only know when the final reckoning comes in May. Short of genuine chances, short of real attacking quality. In the end, goalless at Elland Road. Much ado, but nothing-nothing. Leeds United nil, Brentford nil. We'll continue to talk about this one, but if you've just watched that game on Sky 1, you might be in need of some entertainment. The iconic Saturday Night Live has landed in the UK. Wetlegger there, Tina Fey is there, and you can be there too. Saturday Night Live UK, next on Sky 1.

1:20And here on Sky Sports' main event, we've got reaction to Leeds United against Brentford. A goalless draw. The two defences very much on top in that game, so appropriate that we have Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielko with us. It probably was on Leeds as the home side to kind of go and try and take something from that game. But in a relegation battle, is that point actually precious? I think so, obviously. Time will tell. Obviously, they tried to make a couple of substitutions towards the end of the game to potentially pick up the three points. But we said throughout the whole game they were quite cagey.

1:56It almost looked like both teams were quite happy with the point, move on, another game down, and they'll pick up the points they need to stay up in the rest of the games they've got. Gary, it was a game in which they, as you said at half-time, continued into the second half with them cancelling each other out. Yeah, much of the same from the first half, wasn't it? Defensive, like you said, on top in this game, two very well-organised defensive units. But like you said, I think it could be a potential vital point for Leeds. In what was a cagey game. Let's take a look at what's happened over the course of this weekend.

2:36And results have kind of gone the way of Brentford at the moment towards the top end of the table. But it started with Manchester United dropping points at Bournemouth on Friday night. It was a two-all draw. Earlier today, Brighton got a 2-1 win against Liverpool and then Fulham beat Burnley by three goals to one. In the early game of Saturday Night Football, it finished Everton 3, Chelsea 0. That's Everton's biggest win over Chelsea since 1987. And you can see all of the Premier League goals on the Sky Sports app. There is a huge day to come tomorrow in terms of games at the wrong end of the table, including that match-up between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.

3:21So here's how things look. Brentford stay in seventh place with that point, but the teams below them managed to get a win, even though Chelsea and Liverpool lost and Manchester United above them dropped points. So Brentford moving a little closer to the Champions League battle, but the teams behind them moving a little bit closer in terms of qualifying for other European competitions. And at the other end of the table, that point for Leeds moves them on to 33. It means they're four points clear of the bottom three. They would have hoped that they could move a little bit further away, especially given that they were playing at home.

3:56But at this stage of the season, in a relegation battle, every point counts.

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4:41Welcome back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Let's get back to the studio for more reaction to today's game. Well, it was a game of no goals and few chances at Elland Road. It finished nil-nil between Leeds United and Brentford. It might yet prove to be a big point for Leeds. Brentford staying steady in terms of fighting for European competition.

5:13And this is how the game itself played out. So 14 shots, six for Brentford, four on target for Leeds, two for Brentford. But the bigger picture is when you look at the XG, which is 0.54 for Leeds, 0.46 for Brentford and big chances. It's only the sixth game so far this season not to have a single big chance in it, which is why 20 shots feels like a lot for that game, because it didn't feel like either side was peppering the opponent's goal. and it didn't feel as though either side really was on the verge of getting the breakthrough in it. Are you surprised that, or maybe they did try to, but are you surprised that it didn't look like either side went for it in the end?

5:55I am second off. First off, I thought both teams were looking like they didn't want to lose the game. Second off, I thought maybe they'd be slightly more adventurous. We spoke about, obviously, Leeds being the home team, but of course they don't want to lose the game. And like we've said, it might be a vital point. And in games like that, sometimes you're looking for that bit of brilliance, that bit of magic maybe a set piece a lot have been spoken about set pieces so far this season it just wasn't to be was it? in an attacking sense there wasn't much to go at like we said before the defence has come out on top in this one and they've just edged that little bit further away from the teams below them two of whom in Spurs and Forest play each other tomorrow and that's going to be a massive game to determine whether or not this is a good point for Leeds or whether they needed the three yeah I think they'll be flicking on tomorrow to see obviously how that result goes obviously West Ham I've got Aston Villa as well.

6:44But again, if Leeds keep chipping away, keep chipping away, I think one more win, a couple more draws. And I think that could be enough to see them up there. But as Gaz said, it just looked like a team, even though they were at home, it was a must-not-lose game rather than a must-win. I mean, what a game that's going to be, by the way. The Tottenham Forest, wow. It's going to be incredible. And it's going to be extremely tense, particularly given that it's going to be happening at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. But when we look at the table, we look at maybe the points total that's going to be required for teams to stay up.

7:11At one stage, when Wolves and Burnley were really struggling early on in the season, I thought it might actually end up being a really low points total. And yet, as the season's panned out, it could possibly end up being closer to the 40 points mark that hasn't actually been required in previous seasons. Yeah, I think obviously with the common theme of the teams that come up normally go straight back down as well. That's ended up obviously with the points early going down. But because it's being contested of, you know, a lot of clubs have been in the Premier League for a long, long time. I do think it will be high 30s, if not the 40 point, which will be the barrier to break to make sure you're in the Premier League next season.

7:50It's interesting, like I say, Wolves now play with so much freedom that they're a really tough team to predict what they're going to be like. Not many teams in and around here want to play them. Obviously, Burnley are still trying, fighting chance, but it's going to be obviously really tough for those two. The next four, it's going to be so interesting to watch. Yeah, we're close enough to the end of the season that we can have a look at all of the remaining fixtures. And for Leeds United, like you said, their next few games, obviously they've got West Ham in the FA Cup. But after Manchester United, Wolves, Bournemouth potentially, but Burnley and Spurs as well look like games where they will be hoping that they can pick up the points they need to stay in the Premier League.

8:29And they'll be hoping it doesn't go to the last game of the season against West Ham because that could be extremely tense at the London Stadium. That's what Daniel Farr could be saying to his team. It's in their own hands. You know, they've got a couple of OK home games. Again, the Spurs, they've got really interesting home games. Obviously, they've got Forrest tomorrow. They're now going to obviously host Leeds, which again could, you know, fast forward a few weeks, that could be in exactly the same situation where maybe one's below the line, one's above the line. So, I think Leeds will be quite happy where they are, but I'm sure they'll be desperate to try and get a win as soon as possible just to put a little bit more daylight.

9:01I think that middle block's going to be vital for him. They're going to obviously look at Wolves, I mean, Bournemouth don't lose many football matches at this moment in time. And then Burnley, who are obviously struggling this season, that kind of period there is going to be key going into what could be a massive game against Spurs, depending on obviously what happens in the next couple of weeks. Yeah, that's going to be huge. They took eight points from the reverse fixtures earlier in the season from these ones, and that would take them on to 39, which you would imagine would be more than enough for Leeds to stay, on to 41, sorry, which you imagine would be more than enough for Leeds to stay in the Premier League.

9:34So that's Leeds' ambitions for the rest of the season. As for Brentford, they've talked about European ambition. That's a point. It does take them closer to Liverpool and Chelsea because they both lost. But Everton, Fulham, Brighton, all winning and all getting a little bit close to Brentford. Actually, that race for European football come the end of the season could be a really interesting one because they're really bunching up now. I just imagine all these teams are literally going to just change position literally every weekend. Who kicks off first? Again, I think everyone's changed today. There was a couple of earlier kick-offs.

10:08Obviously, Everton went on to win them. Brentford get their draw and they start leapfrogging each other. But, you know, this period is going to be interesting. I think probably the top spot's been taken. But again, different areas of the league in the last seven games are going to be so interesting to watch. And, you know, there's some teams in and around the European positions that haven't been there for a while, not been there at all. So I say it's exciting for most of the fans in the Premier League. And the other thing in terms of Brentford having their eye on what they wanted from tonight's game is that they have got Everton and Fulham at home in their next two games in the Premier League.

10:41Manchester United, West Ham coming up, Manchester City, Palace and Liverpool. But these next two, Gary, could be the ones that are crucial in determining what happens next season at Brentford. Yeah, like Phil says, you can see this table chopping and changing all the time, can't you? But ultimately, you know, they're in direct competition with them two teams in particular. So the pitch will be very different after them games. They'll realise, obviously, how big the fixtures are and the running. There's some difficult games in there, aren't there? Obviously, United City, the finish at Liverpool away from home.

11:13But certainly, I think, after the international break, they'll be looking at these next two fixtures. They've been really huge in terms of determining the European qualification. Yeah, it could be tricky, as you say, against Liverpool on the last day of the season. But they did beat them at Brentford earlier in the season. And in fact, they took 12 points from these fixtures in the earlier, in the reverse fixtures earlier in the season with four wins and three defeats. So it might, might be enough for Brentford to end up playing European football next season.

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12:29Brentford stay in the hunt for Europe after picking up a point at Ellen Road. Let's hear from Keith Andrews with Harriet Pryor. Keith, you take a point away from that one. What's your initial reaction and how that played out? My initial reaction and feeling is just immense pride, really, with the dig deep. We knew we would have to perform with a level of grit tonight and character and the mentality would need to be really good when the game ebbed and flowed. It was pretty clear our bench was pretty light and players would have to go far in the game and they dug in unbelievably well. You changed to a back three or a back five.

13:09What were you hoping that was going to do tonight and did it have that desired impact? I changed to a back five out of necessity, touching it before the game. The bench being light, I felt that was the right way to go. Touch on Ethan Pinnock coming into the team and what he could and hopefully do for us. And I thought he did that. I thought he was outstanding tonight. His performance, defending the box, crosses, dealing with Calvert-Lewin's aerial threat. It was a big night for him. Pride in terms of the defensive aspects of the game, in terms of the attacking aspects, there was a lot of positive runs from Thiago and Shada, frustrating not to be able to find them on more occasions.

13:48Twofold, really. Yeah, I agree. in some parts the pass, the final execution the decision making but equally when it did go to them I thought at times they could have done better and the timing of their runs could have been better so it's a little bit of twofold but the reality is we've had a disrupted preparation for this game with a couple of things going on the players have just taken everything on board amazingly well they're a phenomenal bunch of players that I genuinely feel privileged to be the head coach of so there's very little gripes for me tonight I just feel immense pride of what they've produced.

14:24You spoke about going back to basics pre-match is that what you saw to come away with a clean sheet in particular? I think if you're going to get a result here you have to do the basics you have to respect what this stadium brings how Daniel has the team playing the threats they pose they do the basics really well I think they're a very honest team and if you don't match that you'll become unstuck pretty quickly. Do you speak about a sense of pride a couple of teams above you dropping points over the weekend I know that you've been keen to say we're not talking about Europe too much, but is it a point that keeps you in the conversation?

14:57And is that another source of pride for you and your side at this stage of the season? Yeah, look, it's tight, isn't it? I haven't looked properly, to be honest. Yeah, I know I'm aware of a couple of results below us and above us as we've gone into the game. So the league is obviously pretty condensed in that part of the league, but seven to go. Approaching it with a high level of excitement, though. I can see with a smile on your face. Yeah, I think we've worked hard to get into this position. That's the reality. We've pushed really hard. We've given absolutely everything. And we'll continue to do so.

15:28Thank you so much, Keith. Thank you. Thank you. Nice to see you. Yeah, a big smile on his face, Keith Andrews, when he was saying he's not really looked too closely at the league table. You would imagine he'd know exactly where the team is and exactly where the teams around them are. But what he will also know, and maybe that feeds into his reaction to this draw, is that it's just one win in six for Brentford now after having won six of their previous nine and they've drawn three in a row. So is the frustration that we maybe saw in him at the start of the interview more to do with that run rather than this one-off game?

16:03I think so. I just think Brentford are stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment, whether to stick or twist because they've had such an amazing season and with that sometimes becomes sort of more problems potentially for next season. If they finish in European place, he just spoke about how thin his squad is. Realistically, if he does find a European competition, he's probably going to find himself another 10, 15 games if he goes well in it, which means he's going to have to find more players to shuffle around for the squad. But at the same extent, he spoke about pride and how proud he is of that team, how well they're doing, sort of overachieving.

16:35So, you know, you can't take anything for granted for football. Brentford may never be in this position ever again to compete for Champions League sport or Europa League sport, anything. So, for me, he has to try and turn these draws into wins. And if it is a one-off season at Brentford, end up in a European competition and everyone's got to enjoy the ride, really. So, you can see the frustrations of not winning games, but to the same extent, he also wants to give his team a massive pat on the back because they're doing fantastically well. Yeah, a couple of big fixtures for them coming up after the international break and the break for the FA Cup.

17:08Let's find out what it means to Leeds United and their manager, Daniel Farke. He's with Harriot. Well, Daniel, you had a lot of momentum. Is it frustrating to just come away with a point? Do you feel you could have got more out of that one? Yes, after a draw, we're not dancing on the table, that's for sure. But I just have compliments to my players. You could see today also why Brentford is in position seven, very established Premier League side, rock solid at the back, lots of physicality. One of the little amount of teams who can sit with our physicality here and had good answers. We had a goal scorer in red hot form, Schade, Wattara, quality up front as well.

17:48So it was a complicated game. It was also important not to run into counter-attacks and then to lose such a game. I think especially in the second half, we had lots of momentum. We had a power play. A bit of composure in and around the box was not there. A bit like the imagination, anticipation where the ball comes down. And to be then at the end, that was a bit missing. But a valuable point for us and we move on. You mentioned there all the attacking threat that they had. It looked like you set up to really nullify that. What was the plan and how did you set up to stop them getting counter-attacking opportunities?

18:18Yes, it's always important that you also prepare for the moment. Once you lose the ball and have a good structure for counter-pressing and don't allow any counter-attacks because they are so, so dangerous. So I'm very happy with our defensive behaviour at the moment. It's our third clean sheet in a row. Also today against a really good side. I think there are not many teams, even in this league, who dominated in both games against Brentford, two times each every statistic like we did today. But it was still a tight game. There were not many chances in the game. I think we had a bit more momentum, had more shots, more corners, more expected goals.

18:51But you always have to be aware. And for that, our defensive flow has made a good job also to control all their counter-attacks. Yeah, we take the point and move on. It's four in the league now without a goal. What did you see in terms of the attacking threat? And would you have liked to see a little bit more in those areas? Yes, but it's also like three in a row without conceding a goal, that's also quite important. We are not the side who just cuts opponents into pieces just due to our individual quality, we have to be honest, so we have to bring our flexibility in, our physicality, our fitness level, our tactical flexibility our mentality and spirit, this is what we are trying to do at the moment, yeah, a little bit the instinct is a bit missing, but yeah, credit also to Brentford they have defended well, last game was also difficult because we have created actually a lot chances many chances in the first half missed even the biggest chance with a penalty in the second half we went under load and it's also not so easy to create in the away game too many chances so overall yeah this is more or less how you have to behave in the relegation battle be rock solid defend really well show good mentality yes would have preferred of course a win would have been a massive step so for that just a small step forward and in that relegation battle is every single point crucial Yes of course we edge one point closer each of the results where you have points is a positive result of course you prefer more to win games because then it's a big step but each of the points that we win as a newly promoted side is an important point especially in the position where we are in and for that we take this point and move on and also take the clean sheet so this feeling also like to have back to back to back clean sheets is also good for my team and this is what we also take And finally a word on Dominic Calvert-Lewin getting called up to the England squad what was your reaction to that and how happy was he as well with that news?

20:37Yeah, as well deserved. So he plays a fantastic season for us, not just with his goals, but with his all-round play. Of course, at also last games, a big chance also perhaps to score, especially Crystal Palace, big chances, but preferred to send him there with two or three points more perhaps. Today was not to be, was also a difficult game. So that was also really, really good defending behaviour of Brentford. But fingers crossed for him that he can make an impression with Thomas. and if he keeps going, delivering good performance, hopefully also in the upcoming games, a few goals, then he has a good chance also to be involved.

21:10Thank you very much, Daniel. Thank you. So Dominic Carver-Lewin gets the England call-up that Daniel Farker was just talking about, but he also mentioned earlier on that they needed to be more composed around the box. And this is why. 56 shots over the last four games without a single goal. That's 419 minutes without scoring and only four big chances in that time. Did you get the impression from Daniel Farker that that is his main focus, scoring goals at the moment? I got the impression that he was very happy with the point. And also that's a slight worry, a big worry, should I say. But four big chances.

21:47They need to find a way to get some goals. He alluded to the fact tonight of how defensively well organised he was. And I think he was worried about the threat of Brentford in terms of counterattacking, their counterattacks. Thiago and Schardt have scored plenty of goals this season, so I think he was worried with that. is happy defensively. They need to find a balance, need to find a way to create chances. Dominic Carver-Lewin now hasn't scored since early February. He's done terrifically well. Listen, he's in the England squad. I mean, from the journey that when he was injured back in the day and he probably felt like he was at rock bottom to where he is now, it's credit to him.

22:19And they've relied heavily on him with 10 goals this season. So he's been fantastic. But they're struggling with four big chances. They need to find a way. Saying that, we said though, Jags, is if they defensively are solid and churn a few more points, that's probably enough for him to stay up. So it's getting that balance, I think. I agree, guys. And I think when you look at this, they're obviously taking shots from strange places. They've had 56 and only 13 on target. They're not shots from 8, 10, 12 yards out. These are probably going to be long-range effort. And that sort of tells you the mentality of the team.

22:49They're sort of willing and hoping to score rather than a team that's set up and designed to create a lot of chances and they will score. But again, like I said, They were defensively so good today. He looks really happy, really proud of his team. And again, he seems upbeat. So Leeds, again, they're in a great position. Yeah, it's almost a reflection of the game tonight. Do you know what I mean? Defensively solid, working, fighting for each other. Take nothing away from that. But obviously, like I said, to try and get the balance and then be a bit more adventurous and create some bigger chances.

23:21We're saying about Calvert-Lewin not scoring, but if you're not creating the chances for him, it's proved when you do, he scores. He can score with 10 goals this season, like I said. but we need to create a few more chances. At the same time, stay solid. So no goals at Elland Road, but there were goals at Hill Dickinson Stadium in the earlier kick-off on Saturday Night Football. Everton with their biggest win over Chelsea since 1987. Andy Hinchcliffe and Seb Hutchinson were watching.

24:01Garner sliding it through a bit, oh, what a finish!