Team predictions

A change in formation for Leeds – Who starts against Cardiff?

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There is so much riding on the Leeds game tomorrow, it can’t be understated. Win and we’re right back in the thick of the playoff race. Lose? There’s a big chance you’re going to see a good old fashioned Leeds United meltdown.

The Hull game was a mess, if we’d lost you couldn’t have argued with it. We’re not creating anywhere enough chances at the minute, the only time we looked threatening was when we had 10 men against Millwall and changed formation to have two upfront. So if the decision was in my hands, we’d be playing 5-3-2 tomorrow.

GK – Felix Wiedwald – Andy Lonergan decided against joining Sunderland – a smart decision in anyone’s book. Felix is showing some signs of consistency at the minute and it’s great to see.

Into the defence…

RWB – Stuart Dallas – For me, Dallas is perfectly suited to this role and deserves to start over Alioski who has been poor for a while now.

RCB – Gaetano Berardi – Berardi has shown he can play centrally in defence if needed and with only two other centre-backs available, it looks like he’ll have to.

CB – Pontus Jansson – One of our best and most consistent players this season is only one yellow card away from a suspension. That seems inevitable at this stage, let’s just hope he avoids that yellow until Cooper returns.

LCB – Matthew Pennington – Pennington is available to play after missing the Hull game and should go straight into the team, he’s looked good in spells and we need him to be tomorrow.

LWB – Laurens De Bock – De Bock was on press conference duty today and he made an interesting comment about needing to learn to be a wing-back to get himself in the Belgium national team, he may well get his chance tomorrow. He’s looked extremely promising so far.

Into the midfield…

CM – Adam Forshaw – Forshaw had a decent if not flashy debut, I’d like to see him take control of the game a bit more and make a few more forward passes rather than sideways.

CM – Ronaldo Vieira – Vieira was poor against Hull and Millwall but due to suspensions Leeds don’t have any alternative options, hopefully he’s back on form tomorrow.

CAM – Pablo Hernandez – Hernandez was our most promising player going forward against Hull and that was saying something as he was poor by his standards. We’re missing Saiz big-time but we need Pablo to step up here.

Into the attack…

ST – Kemar Roofe – Roofe is much better playing centrally and he performed very well against Millwall when Leeds switched to two up front.

ST – Pierre-Michel Lasogga – I would have considered playing our new signing Tyler Roberts but as with Forshaw, he’s arrived with injury. I can’t put any blame on Lasogga for the Hull game, the service to him was non-existent. Play the ball to his feet and he will score goals.

Let us know what team you would go with ahead of the big game tomorrow!

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  • Neil Balmforth says:

    Given the fact that we’ve been struggling to create good chances of late, I’d definitely make changes. I’d probably think a bit more ‘outside the box’ and go 3-4-3. The back 3 chooses itself at the moment, but I’d go with De Bock, Viera, Forshaw, and Dallas across midfield with Pablo, Lasogga, and Alioski as a front 3. Alioski’s work rate is formidable. Start with 3-4-3, get on the front foot from the off, get in front, make changes later bringing on Roofe and reverting to 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 to manage the game and tighten things up.

  • Barry Bowes says:

    Buying injured players , junior players , and players we ship out to Spain.
    What the HELL IS GOING ON at Elland Road ?

  • JDC says:

    Since his injury, Vieira has been nowhere near himself … I’d be tempted to start Vernon Anita alongside Adam Forshaw to give the young guy more confidence recovery time. Can’t disagree with the choice of Stuart Dallas as RWB.

  • Irving08 says:

    Looking forward to seeing if Forshaw offers anything O’Kane (when available) can’t give us.

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