Leeds United managed to earn just a solitary point from their trip to Hull City in their last league fixture. The Whites are now placed at the 10th spot in the Championship table with 44 points to their name after 29 games.
It is about time that Thomas Christiansen’s troops upped the ante if they are desirous to earn a top-six finish. They are due to host Cardiff City at the Elland Road on Saturday and here is how we expect them to line-up against Neil Warnock’s side.
Defence
Felix Wiedwald turned out to be the hero against Hull City and arguably, it was one of the best performances of his career. He was outstanding with his reflexes and his positioning was flawless and Christiansen would definitely want him to continue between the sticks this weekend.
Assembling the central defence would be a massive headache for Christiansen. While Liam Cooper will continue to serve his four-match suspension, Conor Shaughnessy was substituted in the early minutes of the game against the Tigers. Besides, Matthew Pennington received an injury while training before the fixture against Hull City and Leeds United would be keeping their fingers crosses over his fitness.
We do expect Pontus Jansson and Pennington to start at the heart of the backline and Jansson must be very careful as he already has nine yellow cards to his name and one more is going to get him suspended. Newcomer, Laurens De Bock is expected to be pencilled at the left-back slot whereas Gaetano Berardi should be starting from the right-back position. Luke Ayling has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Midfield
Adam Forshaw did a fine job against Hull and was ever-present in the midfield. Kalvin Phillips and Eunan O’ Kane are also suspended, which implies that Christiansen might continue with Ronaldo Vieira alongside Forshaw.
From the left-wing slot, Pablo Hernandez is expected to showcase his cunning attacking and creative prowess whereas, from the right-wing, we expect to see Ezgjan Alioski bagging yet another start. These two, however, need to be a lot more consistent in their endeavours.
Attack
Right up front, we expect to see Tyler Roberts make his first start after Leeds United signed him from the ranks of West Bromwich Albion a few hours before the transfer window closed for a fee which is believed to be £2.5million. Pierre-Michel Lasogga is likely to be his partner in crime against the Bluebirds.
