Jack Clarke will face his former club Leeds United for the second time when Sunderland play the Whites on December 12. Sunderland will face Leeds United in three weeks, and there will be no place for sentiment. That’s the word from Jack Clarke, who, despite his Elland Road connections, will handle the game at the Stadium of Light like any other.
Clarke, who has nine league goals this season, came through the Leeds ranks, rising through the academy and into the first-team under Marcelo Bielsa at the age of 17.
He went on to make 23 Championship appearances for his boyhood club, establishing himself as one of England’s finest promising talents. A move to Tottenham Hotspur loomed, but he struggled to break into the north London club’s first team, and after loan spells at QPR and Stoke City, he joined Sunderland, where he has really found his feet. Clarke scored nine goals under Tony Mowbray last season and has already matched that total this season, indicating that he is making tremendous strides ahead in the north east as Sunderland compete for promotion at the top of the Championship table.
Currently, Sunderland finds themselves trailing Leeds by five points and three places in the table. The upcoming clash between the two teams on December 12 carries significant implications, a fact that occupies Jack Clarke’s focus. Rather than dwelling on the prospect of facing his former club for only the second time in his career (the first being during his loan at Loftus Road), Clarke is more concerned with the potential impact of the match on the standings.
While acknowledging the sentimental value of encountering familiar faces from his time at Leeds, Clarke downplays the personal significance of the match. He reveals that his family, hailing from the Leeds area and being ardent Leeds fans, might hype up the occasion more than he does. Clarke views the upcoming fixture as just another game, emphasizing the importance of securing a positive result for his current team.
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