Leeds United host West Bromwich Albion at Elland Road in Friday Night Football.
Victory would see Leeds leapfrog West Brom into the top half of the table, whilst the Baggies can go into the top three with a win.
Team News
Sam Greenwood could return for Leeds after he missed much of their pre-season and opening three games with an unspecified injury.
Sonny Perkins (illness) is a doubt but Wilfried Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra are both unlikely to feature for personal reasons, amidst interest from potential new clubs.
Liam Cooper (foot), Mateo Joseph (ankle), Junior Firpo (knee), Tyler Adams, Patrick Bamford (both hamstring), Crysencio Summerville (groin) and Stuart Dallas (leg) remain absent
West Brom could again be without Brandon Thomas-Asante after he missed their 3-2 win over Swansea last weekend with an ankle injury.
Martin Kelly (knee), Grady Diagana (foot), Adam Reach (quad) and Daryl Dike (Achilles) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Leeds host West Brom at Elland Road in a 8pm BST kick-off on Friday 18 August, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- Leeds are unbeaten in their last five meetings against West Brom (W4, D1).
- West Brom have won just one of their last 12 visits to Leeds (W1, D3, L8).
- Leeds have kept clean sheets in three of their last five home matches against West Brom.
- Anything less than victory would see Leeds fail to win any of their three opening league games for the second time in three seasons – having not won their first six fixtures in 2021-22 season.
- Three of West Brom’s four goals in their opening two league games were scored in the second half (W1, L1).
Prediction
Defence was Leeds’ biggest issue throughout last season which culminated in their relegation and things don’t seem to have improved much in their games so far this campaign, although there were signs of progress in last weekend’s defeat at Birmingham until a sloppy foul cost them a point.
West Brom meanwhile displayed excellent intensity within their end product with some solid finishing in their win over Swansea, but were lucky to snatch the victory after a late defensive drop in focus from 3-0 up which shows how vulnerable their back line can be when not on tune.
Goals therefore are surely on the cards but if West Brom play here like they did last weekend, I would fancy them to have the edge if can get at Leeds’ defence early on and tidy up their own defensive vulnerabilities otherwise a draw might be the best outcome.
Prediction: Leeds United 1-2 West Brom
Result: Leeds United 1-1 West Brom
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