Leeds United will be expected to put in a dominant performance against a struggling Huddersfield Town team when two Yorkshire sides meet at Kirklees Stadium in the Championship on Saturday.
Marcelo Bielsa's side are once again pushing hard for promotion to the Premier League, while Huddersfield, following relegation from the top division last season, are languishing in 19th place.
Match preview
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Following such a dismal second campaign in the top flight last season, it is no surprise to see Huddersfield in a state of free fall in the Championship.
Despite all the excellent work done by David Wagner to take Huddersfield into the Premier League, an overall lack of foresight has culminated in things going wrong quite quickly.
With players such as Aaron Mooy, Jonas Lossl, Laurent Depoitre, Rajiv van La Parra, Erik Durm and Philip Billing all leaving over the summer, Huddersfield's essential core has vanished, leaving in its place a less stable set of options.
For a while, though, it looked as if Huddersfield could challenge for a return to the Premier League after manager Danny Cowley, appointed in September, went eight games without a defeat, only for results to very rapidly deteriorate.
Such a wild oscillation between two extremes highlights how Huddersfield, following its venture into the top division, now needs a new base from which to build a new crop of players.
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At Leeds, on the other hand, not much has changed from last season, with Bielsa's men two points behind leaders West Bromwich Albion after 16 games.
Under the tutelage of the meticulous Bielsa, it seemed inevitable that the fluid, punctilious football on display would guide Leeds to the Premier League for the first time in over a decade last season.
Somehow, though, the Yorkshire club blew their lines when the decisive part of the 2018-19 campaign approached, missing out on an automatic promotion spot and then missing out through the playoffs following defeat to Derby County.
Once again, Bielsa's men are the pacesetters this season along with West Brom, winning their last five games in a row and continuing to produce a dynamic brand of football that looks somewhat out of step with Championship convention.
While they will be expected to stroll past Huddersfield this weekend, the real challenge for Leeds comes through whether they can maintain this level right up until May.
Recent Huddersfield Town form: WWLDDL
Recent Leeds United form: DWWWWW
Team News
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Danny Simpson and Jaden Brown both have outside chances of returning for Huddersfield on Saturday.
However, it remains to be seen as to when Collin Quaner and Fraizer Campbell will recover from respective hip and leg injuries.
Tommy Elphick is out for the season with a knee ligament injury, while Trevoh Chalobah misses out after receiving a red card against Swansea City.
Leeds have no injury concerns ahead of this game, although Kalvin Phillips will miss out through suspension having picked up a certain number of yellow cards in recent weeks.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Grabara; Hadergjonaj, Schindler, Kongolo, O'Brien; Kachunga, Stankovic, Hogg, Ahearne-Grant; Bacuna, Koroma
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Castilla; Ayling, White, Cooper; Dallas, Berardi, Klich; Costa, Hernandez, Harrison; Bamford
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-3 Leeds United
Huddersfield feel like a team in a state of deep uncertainty, meaning that predicting what performance they will produce is difficult.
Leeds, on the other hand, are motoring forward under Bielsa, and should be able to comfortably claim all three points if they play with their usual cut and thrust this weekend.
Leo Nieboer
