Pascal Struijk’s late equaliser against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday pulled Jesse Marsch’s side out of the relegation zone at the expense of Burnley.
The Clarets though have a game in hand and are set to visit Villa Park to meet Gerrard’s side on Thursday; the clash will be Aston Villa’s last of the season in front of their home fans.
Merson, taking stock of the situation, has admitted he would rather be in Leeds’ shoes and saluted the Whites’ late equaliser as massive.
He wrote in his column for Sky Sports: “If I had to pick which camp I’d rather be in out of the relegation candidates, it’d be Leeds because of that point against Brighton – one that I think will keep them up.
“I was covering their game on Sunday and Pascal Struijk’s late equaliser was a massive goal for them.
“They were out of it in the first half and Brighton were a much better team.”
And Merson explained that Aston Villa will not be on the beach when they entertain Burnley on Thursday.
“You’ve got to give the fans optimism on the last home game so Villa will be the biggest triers in the world on Thursday night.”
It is a three-way race for survival at the moment, with Everton being the third team not yet having secured their status.
