On Boxing Day, Leeds were presented a chance, but within a few hours, they’d thrown it away.

There’s a joke to be made in there about a certain Wham song that is usually popular at this time of year, but we’re not sure that United supporters will be in too jovial of a mood at the moment.

Why would they be though? Leeds have failed to win for the third game in a row, and despite results going their way in the three o’clock kick-offs, the gap to third place remains at eight points.

It could have been worse had it not been for a later Stuart Dallas equaliser, but the Whites can’t allow the same thing that happened last season to reoccur this year.

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This time in 2018, Leeds were sitting pretty at the top of the Championship, but all the signs were there to suggest that their performances were dipping.

Indeed, United relied on late winners against Blackburn and Aston Villa during this period last term to maintain their comfortable lead at the top of the table, and a six-point gap to West Brom in third after 24 games made promotion seem almost certain.

Unfortunately, it seems as if nobody at the club spotted the inevitable slump, and United failed to strengthen in January and ended up finishing in third.

Many Leeds fans blamed Andrea Radrizzani’s lack of movement in the winter window for the club’s eventual capitulation, and it’s a mistake Leeds can’t afford to make again this season.

Their performance on Thursday was poor, they were bailed out by a last-minute goal and their comfortable lead remains only due to poor results from other sides challenging for the automatic promotion spots.

Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani must heed the warning signs and get their chequebooks out in January. This squad needs reinforcements to guarantee it’ll get over the finish line.

In other news, Leeds shouldn’t be too disheartened if they miss out on one of their January targets.