Leeds United are due to face Barnsley at the Elland Road on Saturday after their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa in their last league game. The Whites must try to win their remaining games to engineer a respectable finish to the season.
Leeds United Team News
Liam Cooper is back in training after his thigh injury, although he might not be rushed into the starting line-up. Laurens De Bock, Pontus Jansson and Adam Forshaw are due to return shortly.
While Luke Ayling is sidelined for the rest of the season owing to the ankle injury he sustained back in January, Conor Shaughnessy is expected to return from his ankle injury in a week of two. Besides, Gaetano Berardi is set to remain sidelined due to the red card he was shown against Sunderland.
Here is how we expect Paul Heckingbottom to roll out his starting XI against his former employers.
Goalkeeper
Bailey-Peacock Farrell is expected to be positioned under the bar yet again. He made some good saves against the Villans in the last league game and thoroughly deserves to get the nod to start.
Defence
Matthew Pennington and Paudie O’Connor are likely to be stationed together in the heart of the back line of the Whites. They must be on their toes throughout the upcoming fixture to save the blushes of their side.
Stuart Dallas has been far from satisfactory in the right-back slot but owing to lack of options for Heckingbottom, he is anticipated to start from the aforesaid position yet again. Meanwhile, Tom Pearce is expected to get the green light from the former Barnsley manager to start at left-back.
Midfield
Kemar Roofe flattered to deceive against the Lions from the central attacking midfield position and he is expected to be replaced by Samuel Saiz against the Tykes. The 27-year-old has 5 goals and 7 assists to his name from 32 appearances in the Championship and he will be keen to add to his tally.
It will be a big game for the central midfield duo of Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira. Both of them have to shield the back line meticulously, dictate the tempo of the game from the middle of the park and further, they must try to knit the side together as a unit with their passes.
Attack
Up top, we expect Pierre-Michel Lasogga to start and lead the line of the Yorkshire based outfit. To aid him, we expect Heckingbottom to pencil Ezgjan Alioski on the left-wing and Pablo Hernandez on the right-wing.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored
