👏 We're underway against the Merseyside Reds at Elland Road!
— Leeds United (@LUFC) April 19, 2021
It’s a joke that has been doing the rounds for several hours before kick-off, but it’s very ballsy from Leeds United’s social media person nonetheless. We approve 100%.
Joke context: Liverpool are one of the six English clubs who have signed up for the doomed and despised European Super League. Merseyside Reds refers to the football video game Pro Evolution Soccer, which for a long time didn’t have the licences to use the real names of English clubs; until 2016, Liverpool were known in iterations of the game as ‘Merseyside Red’.
Leeds players also wore ‘Earn It/Football is for the fans’ T-shirts before kick-off, which really did not appear to impress Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp:
Leeds United wore these warmup shirts before facing Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/ih6OPhvQeq
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 19, 2021