Leeds showed Watford the gap between the best and the rest

One particularly memorable episode of Survival followed a leopard and demonstrated how its strength, speed, and skill allowed it to track down and ultimately kill its prey.

A small herd of gazelles was grazing and going about their own thing when one of them strayed a little. You may call it a lack of focus.

“And so the leopard, seeing the opportunity, moves at incredible pace and with searing power to take its chance, stunning the gazelle before completing the kill,” the voiceover said.

Leeds was the leopard and Watford was the gazelle last night.

After contentedly letting twenty minutes pass, Leeds came out of the bushes to take their lead just as Edo Kayembe’s moment of distraction gave Dan James the chance to charge through and give them the lead.

In just fifteen minutes, the visitors had a 3-0 lead and were on their way to winning the Championship for the twentieth time this season.

The match between Watford and Leeds was also a mismatch; once the visitors gained control of their opponents, they used their superior skill, power, and speed to finish the kill. This is similar to the leopard and gazelle.

As Tom Cleverley subsequently stated, the visitors have every characteristic of a Premier League squad.

Even though most of Manchester City’s players could score four or five goals at Vicarage Road while carrying a teacup and saucer, the evening felt a lot like those home games from the Premier League era.

Watford did not play well last night, but they have performed worse on multiple occasions this season. The distinction was that they hadn’t done so against Leeds, a team of such caliber.

It appeared for twenty minutes like a nice game might be on the horizon.

James Abankwah deflected Joel Piroe’s shot over the top, while a brilliant Kayembe volley from a corner missed a defender.

However, Leeds, like the leopard, was able to make its attack after Watford momentarily lost focus, much like the gazelle.

Sometimes in the Championship, such great chances go begging, but with all the skill of a player with over 100 Premier League appearances under his belt, Kayembe’s shot went over and wide of Egil Selvik and into the corner. Kayembe was facing goal and halfway inside his half when he received a pass from Mattie Pollock.

In terms of a contest, we were unaware at the time, but that marked the end of the evening.

Leeds’ second goal, which began from a Watford corner, demonstrated how quickly they can complete tasks.

It was a three-on-three match when the ball was cleared into the center of the Leeds half.

That quickly turned into a two-on-one match as the visitors broke so quickly that Watford was left chasing shadows.

Joel Piroe, positioned far to the left, probably recognized Pollock’s attempt to block his path to James and anticipated the striker would outpace the Watford defender in a footrace.

James was through on Selvik again after a flawless feed, and the finish was excellent once more, with the ball hitting the roof of the net with force and accuracy.

Leeds performs the same tasks as other Championship teams, but they do it more quickly and effectively.

Imran Louza’s brilliant pass sent Moussa Sissoko off on the right, giving Watford a chance to cut the lead, but his touch put him a little off goal, and Ilian Meslier tightened the angle before stopping with his body.

You have to wonder if things would have turned out differently if James had been sprinting into the same pass.

Goal three was essentially Watford’s failure to do the fundamentals and Leeds’ exploit of it, if goal one was a howler and goal two was an incredible counterattack.

No one else in a yellow shirt appeared to be in danger when Manor Solomon collected a throw-in on the left, but as he turned with Louza snapping at his heels,

Rather, Solomon moved across the field and then fired a shot that Selvik most likely blocked, but it bounced off Pollock and went inside the other post.

Then Watford appeared surprised, Leeds were in full swing, and terrible visions of a crushing scoreline filled the mind.

Fortunately, they only added one more goal, but the 4-0 home loss was still the same as Watford’s worst in the second division.

Leeds appeared more than willing to give Watford the ball in the first thirty minutes of the second half, knowing that they could keep them at bay.

The Hornets did a good job of plugging away. Even though Leeds was excellent, Louza was once again the standout player, and few would trade him for any of the visitors’ midfield players.

The Moroccan puts in a lot of work, is composed and self-assured, and adds a touch of elegance that distinguishes the top players.

In all but division, the Leeds team appears to be a Premier League team, but Louza in current condition also looks like a top-tier talent.

The visitors added a fourth and increasingly upped their pressure as time went on.

Before slipping the pass to Solomon, the outstanding Ao Tanaka made a full 360-degree circle on the Watford box’s corner.

Before sliding the ball past Selvik and into the corner, Piroe placed Pollock on his backside when he threaded it square to him.

James came within a foot or two of a hat-trick after a stunning one-two with Brenden Aaronson, and the Norwegian goalkeeper, making his home debut, had no chance with any of the goals but stopped a Piroe attempt at the near post to stop a fifth.

When Louza, of all people, saw a reverse ball to play in Giorgi Chakvetadze, Watford had an opportunity for a late consolation goal, but the Georgian’s shot struck the bar.

Small margins and no offense to Chakvetadze, but once more it demonstrated the difference between a Championship squad that was mediocre and one that was headed for promotion.

Actually, the entire evening demonstrated the widening inequalities in English football.

Watford, who are most likely an upper mid-table team, were obviously a level or two below Leeds, who are currently at the top.

According to former Leeds, Chelsea, and Aston Villa defender Tony Dorigo, who attends most of the Yorkshire club’s games as part of his media responsibilities, they would require six new players to be able to make a real effort to stay in the Premier League should they be promoted.

This team, which is among the best in the Championship, might require a half-new squad in order to compete in the top division.

Sheffield United, Burnley, and Luton rose to prominence two years ago, but they immediately fell back.

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