Leeds United's home match against Blackburn Rovers at Elland Road in the Championship on Wednesday could be the catalyst for both to push for promotion to the Premier League.
The hosts lead the way by two points in the second tier, moving onto 51 thanks to their 1-0 victory against Derby County on Sunday, while their opponents are in fifth place with 38 points but lost 1-0 against Hull City on December 29.
Match preview
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Leeds might have only beaten Derby thanks to a 79th-minute winner from Brenden Aaronson, but they created five big chances, accumulated 62% possession and prevented the Rams from creating any big chances of their own.
Manager Daniel Farke was delighted with his players' performances, telling reporters: "Normally you can't miss so many chances to win points in such a difficult place but for me we scored the goal of the season. I love this goal, on such a difficult pitch, perfect team move.
"Perfect team performance, perfect away performance. These nights are the best. Tight win, late goal, clean sheet and is perfect for the mood and spirit."
The Peacocks' record of 44 goals scored and 15 conceded in the Championship makes them league's best offensive and third-best defensive team.
Leeds come into their match on Wednesday having won four of their last five, and they have triumphed in eight of their past 10, drawing one and losing just one in that time.
However, that defeat was a 1-0 loss against Blackburn on November 30, a game in which their upcoming visitors created four big chances compared to Leeds' one.
It should be noted that the hosts have won each of their last nine fixtures at Elland Road, keeping seven clean sheets and scoring 24 goals in that period.
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The visitors are winless in their three most recent games, losing two and drawing one, but they had won their prior six matches.
While Blackburn produced three big chances against Hull on Sunday, it would have been concerning to boss John Eustace that his team also conceded three big chances and lost despite facing just three shots on target.
The manager was critical of his team's lack of ruthlessness in the aftermath of the defeat, saying: "We had two or three great chances to score. When you're not clinical, it does cost you in the end. I've watched [Hull's] last two or three games and they've limited the opposition to next to nothing with the way they set up - we knew we'd only get limited chances."
Eustace's side occupy the second last of four promotion playoff spots, but their return of 27 goals is the fewest among teams in the top 12.
The Riversiders lost 1-0 against Millwall in their last away game on December 21, but they did win the prior four fixtures on the road by a cumulative score of 6-1.
Team News
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Leeds will unfortunately not be unable to call upon midfielder Ilia Gruev until the middle of next month due to a knee injury, so expect Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka to start in a double pivot.
Dan James and Wilfried Gnonto are likely to start in the forward line, though Farke will not able to bring on winger Joe Gelhardt as a result of a hip injury.
Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Patrick Struijk and Sam Byram started in the backline against Derby, and they are almost certain to retain their places in the XI given defenders Junior Firpo and Maximilian Wober have been ruled out.
Meanwhile, Blackburn will be without forwards Arnor Sigurdsson and Zak Gilsenan until early January, so perhaps Tyrhys Dolan, Todd Cantwell and Ryan Hedges will start behind Yuki Ohashi.
Defenders Scott Wharton, Harry Pickering and Hayden Carter are out due to injuries, and this could mean that Callum Brittain, Dominic Hyam, Danny Batth and Owen Beck are set to retain their places in the starting XI.
Elsewhere, Lewis Baker and Sondre Tronstad started the visitors' last two matches and are likely to feature on Wednesday given midfielder Lewis Travis is out because of a hamstring issue.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Byram; Ampadu, Tanaka; James, Aaronson, Gnonto; Joseph
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Brittain, Hyam, Batth, Beck; Baker, Tronstad; Dolan, Cantwell, Hedges; Ohashi
We say: Leeds United 3-1 Blackburn Rovers
Though Leeds did lose in the reverse fixture, their excellent form of late should make them strong favourites on Wednesday.
Additionally, Blackburn have not been prolific in the final third this campaign, and they could be overcome by the hosts' fervent home support.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
