The Whites approached Saturday’s hosting of the Hornets sat in ninth place after Wednesday night’s goalless draw at Hull City in which Daniel Farke’s side had to play the final 30 minutes plus stoppage time with ten men after Joe Rodon’s dismissal for a second booking.
Rodon was then suspended for the weekend clash against Watford who arrived at Elland Road unbeaten in their last three but Valerian Ismael’s side were readily brushed aside as goals from Joel Piroe, Sam Byram and Jaidon Anthony gave the Whites an impressive 3-0 success.
The win briefly took Leeds up to fifth place but the Whites then dropped a position to sixth on Sunday and back behind Hull City who recorded a 3-1 triumph at Stoke City.
At the top of the division, leaders Preston North End were held to a 1-1 draw at Rotherham United on Saturday and dropped two places as both Leicester City and Ipswich Town recorded fresh successes.
New leaders Leicester recorded a 1-0 win at home to Bristol City whilst Ipswich edged a seven-goal thriller at home to Blackburn Rovers as a 4-3 verdict left them second, level on points with Leicester and eight points ahead of Leeds with eight games played.
Following the weekend’s results, the bookmakers have cast a fresh verdict on the season’s predicted finishing positions and this is where Leeds and their rivals now feature based on the latest title odds and relegation prices for sides envisaged to finish in the bottom half.

Ethan Ampadu could not make a massive impact at Chelsea, but the Wales international is doing extremely well at Leeds United at the moment.
Since joining Leeds United from Chelsea in the summer transfer window, Ethan Ampadu has established himself as a key figure in manager Daniel Farke’s side.
Ampadu is a versatile player who can operate in defence and in defensive midfield.
The 23-year-old has become a regular in the Leeds defensive midfield under Farke.
Ethan Ampadu impresses for Leeds United vs Watford
And, like in previous matches, Ampadu did his job quietly and efficiently in the middle of the park against Watford at Elland Road in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
While Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter stole the headlines after Leeds beat Watford 3-0, we cannot ignore Ampadu’s performance at all.