Hatters boss hails Leeds United as the 'best team' in the Championship ahead of Elland Road trip

Luton boss Rob Edwards has declared tonight’s opponents Leeds United as the ‘best team’ in the Championship this season.

Since being relegated out of the top flight back in 2022, the Whites have been doing their utmost to get back there, as they finished third under former Norwich and Borussia Mönchengladbach boss Daniel Farke last term, eventually beaten in the Championship play-off final by Southampton. Missing out on the highest tier of English football meant United had to sell a number of their top players in the summer, Archie Gray heading to Tottenham Hotspur, Luis Sinisterra moving to AFC Bournemouth and Georginio Rutter snapped up by Brighton & Hove Albion for combined fees of around £100m, Jack Harrison heading out on loan to Everton as well.

Despite losing such an important quartet, Leeds have made an excellent fist of going up automatically during the early stages of the current campaign as a terrific last-gasp 4-3 success at Swansea City on Sunday saw them reach top spot. That was until last night’s round of fixtures, in which positive results for Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland saw them drop down to fourth, although Farke’s men will return to the summit with another home success.

Edwards knows it will be incredibly tough against a supremely confident Leeds team, who have lost just once in front of their own fans so far, with six wins, as asked if Elland Road is the toughest place to go in the second tier, the Town chief said: ”I think so, they’re probably the best team. They’ve got some great individuals and are playing with a lot of confidence.

"It’s going to be a really, really good challenge and one we’ve got to look forward to as well. You’ve got to embrace and enjoy these games. It’s going to be a really good atmosphere and we’re all really looking forward to it. They have (bounced back well from play-off final loss) and you’d expect that, a huge football club, with really good players and he (Farke) knows what he's doing as well, so it’s no surprise at all. It certainly was a thrilling game (Leeds beating Swansea). Two good teams and they create a lot of chances.

"They don’t give much away at the other end, they make it difficult for the opposition. The other day was a bit of a high-scoring affair, but in general, they don’t give much away and they’ve got a lot of good players at that top end of the pitch. They’re really good, more often than not they’ll try to get six on that last line and three people in the pockets, in between units.

"They’ve got great combinations and fast technical players that can hurt you. They can go on the outside but if you allow them, they've got the ability to cut straight through the middle of you as well. So we’ve got to make sure we’re very resilient and strong and not allow anything through the middle of us first, but certainly we’ve got to try and pick the right people who can deal with the speed they’ve got.

"Real clarity in how they play and we know how difficult a game it will be, but we’re really looking forward to it. We showed resilience on Saturday, it wasn’t perfect, we know that, but we showed a really good work ethic and desire from the players, we’re going to have to show that in abundance.”

With Leeds the clear favourites for the contest, it means that Town, themselves dropping out of the Premier League last term, will go into this contest with an underdog tag they haven’t had placed on them too much this season. It might be something they can play on, although Edwards is still expecting plenty from his own players, as he added: “I haven’t thought about that too much but maybe that takes a little bit of the pressure away.

"Leeds will be favourites for every game they play and they’ve been used to that for a long, long time. Maybe there’s a little shift in the roles going into this one, so that’s fine, but we’ll go and enjoy it. We put our own pressure on ourselves anyway, we want to deliver a really good performance and we haven’t done that in the last couple of away games, not for a full game anyway, parts of the game we have, so we want to go and deliver a complete performance.

"It won’t guarantee a win, but that’s what we’ll be aiming for, full commitment, work-rate and resilience, all of those things we’ve been speaking about that we’re going to need, because it’s a great place to go and play. I’ve loved going up to Elland Road in the past when I’ve been there as a player and a coach, it can be a really hostile, noisy environment, but we’ve got to let that bring out the best in us.”