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Leeds logo
Championship
Jan 18, 2014 at 12.15pm UK
 
Leicester logo

0-1

FT(HT: 0-0)
Nugent (87')

Preview: Leeds United vs. Leicester City

Sports Mole previews Saturday's early Championship kickoff as out-of-form Leeds take on league leaders Leicester at Elland Road.

Leeds United will be looking to put their Yorkshire derby horror show behind them when they host league leaders Leicester City at Elland Road on Saturday.

The hosts' poor form hit its nadir last weekend when rivals Sheffield Wednesday thrashed them 6-0 at Hillsborough, with Leeds having a man sent off to compound their misery.

That made it four defeats in a row and six matches without a win in all competitions for Brian McDermott's side, leaving them 11th in the Championship table and four points off the playoffs.

Worryingly for Leeds, Leicester represent the toughest test yet in that torrid run of form, but McDermott will be telling his side that there is nothing quite like a win over the league leaders to raise morale.

They will have to do it without striker Matt Smith, who was shown a red card within two minutes of coming on as a half-time sub against Wednesday and will now miss three games through suspension.

That means that the league's top scorer Ross McCormack is likely to lead the line alone once again, while Jimmy Kebe and Cameron Stewart are expected to start despite not making the desired impact on their debut last week.

Leicester will be licking their lips coming into this game given the respective form of the two sides, but they will also be wary of a Leeds backlash.

The Foxes now lead the table by four points following a comprehensive 4-1 victory over in-form Derby County last Friday - a result that made it five league wins in a row for Nigel Pearson's side.

They are now clear favourites to be playing top flight football next season, and the recent arrivals of Riyad Mahrez and Kevin Phillips have strengthened their squad even further.

That duo are expected to be on the bench for Saturday's game, alongside Chris Wood and Sean St Ledger, who could return to the squad but aren't likely to start.

Recent form

Leeds: DDLLLL

Leicester: WWWWLW

Possible starting lineups

Leeds: Kenny; Byram, Pearce, Lees, Pugh; Stewart, Austin, Murphy, Mowatt, Kebe; McCormack

Leicester: Schmeichel; De Laet, Moore, Morgan, Konchesky; Knockaert, James, Drinkwater, Dyer; Vardy, Nugent

Sports Mole says: 0-2


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Written by
Barney Corkhill
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Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson looks on ahead of the Championship playoff semi-final against Watford on May 9, 2013
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
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1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd22155232112148
2Leeds UnitedLeeds22136341152645
3Burnley2212822891944
4Sunderland22127334181643
5Blackburn RoversBlackburn2111462518737
6Middlesbrough22105738281035
7West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom22811326161035
8Watford2110473028234
9Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds229582830-232
10Millwall217772118328
11Swansea CitySwansea227692424027
12Bristol City226972628-227
13Norwich CityNorwich226883734326
14Queens Park RangersQPR2251072328-525
15Luton TownLuton2274112538-1325
16Derby CountyDerby2266102728-124
17Coventry CityCoventry2266102834-624
18Preston North EndPreston2241172229-723
19Stoke CityStoke2257102330-722
20Portsmouth204882535-1020
21Hull City2247112131-1019
22Cardiff CityCardiff2146111934-1518
23Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2146112137-1618
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2146112245-2318


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