Leeds United will be looking for just their second Championship win of 2020 when they welcome Bristol City to Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.
Marcelo Bielsa's side remain second in the table despite a poor run of form, while Bristol City are just outside the playoffs in seventh having won five of their last six in England's second tier.
Match preview
© Reuters
It would be fair to say that many Leeds fans were fearful heading into Tuesday's clash with Brentford, and their mood would not have been helped when under-fire goalkeeper Kiko Casilla dropped a huge clanger to allow the hosts to take the lead.
The Whites responded impressively to secure a share of the spoils at Griffin Park, though, and it will go down as an important result having lost to Wigan Athletic and Nottingham Forest in their two previous games.
There is no getting away from the fact that Leeds have now only won one of their last seven in the Championship, though, which has seen the gap to third position evaporate.
Indeed, Bielsa's side are now level on points with third-placed Fulham and sit six behind leaders West Bromwich Albion, who are just starting to pull clear of the chasing pack at a key stage of the campaign.
The Whites are certainly due a big result, but the fact that they are only three points clear of seventh-placed Bristol City heading into this contest is an indication of their precarious position.
© Reuters
A horror run of form in the latter stages of 2019 saw Bristol City pick up just three points from five matches, while they also started 2020 with a 4-0 home defeat to Brentford.
Things have turned in recent weeks, though, and Lee Johnson's side will enter this match having won five of their last six in the Championship to move to within the brink of the top six.
The Robins, who just fell short of the playoffs last season as they finished eighth, recorded a 3-2 victory over Derby County on Wednesday evening.
They will actually follow the trip to Elland Road with a home game against leaders West Brom next weekend, and their results in the two fixtures could determine whether they are capable of challenging for promotion.
Leeds have won five of their last six Championship meetings, though, and have lost just once to the Robins in the league since 1979, which is an indication of the size of the task facing the visitors this weekend.
Leeds Championship form: LLWLLD
Bristol City Championship form: WWWWLW
Bristol City form (all competitions): LWWWLW
Team News
© Reuters
Leeds midfielder Adam Forshaw has been ruled out for the remainder of the season as he prepares to undergo hip surgery, while Tyler Roberts and Robbie Gotts are both unavailable through injury.
Bielsa revealed at Thursday's press conference that the Whites had not picked up any fresh concerns from the Brentford clash, though, and therefore the same XI could take to the field.
Jean-Kevin Augustin is still waiting for his first start since arriving on loan last month, but Patrick Bamford will continue in attack despite failing to score in seven of his last eight Championship outings.
Casilla has also been confirmed as a starter despite his clanger against the Bees.
Bristol City, meanwhile, will again be without the services of Tomas Kalas, Marley Watkins and Benik Afobe.
Filip Benkovic, Nakhi Wells and Markus Henriksen all made their first starts for the club on Wednesday night, and it appears that all three could retain their spots this weekend.
Andreas Weimann and Tommy Rowe are two players who will be pushing to return to the starting XI this weekend, although Johnson is unlikely to make significant changes from the win over the Rams.
Leeds possible starting lineup:
Casilla; Ayling, White, Cooper, Dallas; Costa, Hernandez, Phillips, Klich, Harrison; Bamford
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Hunt, Williams, Benkovic, Dasilva; Paterson, Henriksen, Smith, Eliasson; Wells, Diedhiou
We say: Leeds 1-1 Bristol City
Leeds are certainly due a win, but it is difficult to back them with any real confidence this weekend considering Bristol City's form. The visitors have so much quality in the final third, and we fancy Johnson's side to pick up a share of the spoils at Elland Road.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a win with a probability of 66.84%. A draw had a probability of 19.2% and a win for had a probability of 13.93%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.3%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.49%) and 2-1 (9.81%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.11%), while for a win it was 0-1 (4.23%).
Germany
Switzerland
Hungary
Scotland
Spain
Italy
Croatia
Albania
England
Denmark
Slovenia
Serbia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Belgium
Slovakia
Ukraine
Portugal
Turkey
Georgia
Czech Republic
