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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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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
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


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