Leeds United welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Elland Road in a must-win Premier League clash.
Victory could see Leeds climb to 15th and move three points clear of the relegation zone, whilst Brighton can go as high as sixth if win by a four-goal margin.
Team News
Rodrigo is in line for a surprise return for Leeds after recovering from an ankle injury which had been expected to sideline him for another month.
Liam Cooper (muscle), Patrick Bamford (leg) and Luis Sinsterra (hamstring) are doubts but Adam Forshaw (hip) and Stuart Dallas (thigh) remain ruled out.
Brighton could be without Tariq Lamptey after he was substituted with a knee injury during their 4-0 win over West Ham last weekend.
Levi Colwill (muscle) could also feature but Adam Lallana (hamstring) and Jakob Moder (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Leeds host Brighton in a 3pm GMT kick-off at Elland Road on Saturday 11 March, albeit untelevised in UK.
Stat Attack
- Leeds are winless in five previous Premier League meetings against Brighton (D2, L3).
- Brighton are unbeaten in their two previous Premier League visits to Leeds (W1, D1).
- Leeds have failed to keep a clean sheet in four of their five previous Premier League meetings against Brighton, except for a 0-0 draw in November 2021.
- Each of Leeds’ last three matches have finished in 1-0 result, with the Whites winning just one of those three games (W1, L2).
- Brighton have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last nine league matches away from home dating back to late August 2022 (W3, D3, L3).
Prediction
Sat above the relegation zone by virtue of goal difference, Leeds really need to start pulling together some wins if they want to stay up although they did well to only concede one goal in their defeat last weekend at Chelsea.
Javi Gracia though need to ensure that his Whites reset because they struggled defensively to handle Chelsea’s intensity, with little creativity of their own on the attack which absolutely has to change if they are to stand any chance in this game.
Brighton meanwhile know that they can’t afford to slip up despite having games in hand in their race for a top-four finish, whilst a dominant home win over West Ham last weekend certainly will only motivate them further given their current league form.
Now if Brighton can replicate that performance but on the road aided by their excellent Premier League form against Leeds, I just can’t see Leeds getting anything – aside from a goal – so this feels like a case of minimising their defeat because the Seagulls should have too much here.
Prediction: Leeds 1-2 Brighton
Result: Leeds 2-2 Brighton
Leave a Reply