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Forgotten man to return to Leeds line-up against Preston

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Two away defeats in a row but thankfully we’re back on home comforts on Saturday. We need to get back to what we was doing to get us in the Play-Off’s in the first place, do the basics right and attack. Hopefully the crowd will be behind the lads from the start and even if things aren’t going our way, that’s when we really need to be United.

Here’s the line-up we’d go with…




GK – Rob Green – 2-0 isn’t exactly a great scoreline but it would’ve been a whole lot more had Green not been in the team. He made save after save and he’s been doing it all season.




RB – Luke Ayling – Ayling was rather poor on Tuesday but I think he’ll continue at right-back. We need to get back to the way we played when we shot up the league and Ayling was a big part of that.

CB – Kyle Bartley – Should’ve score two in his last two games from set-pieces but he missed relatively easy chances with both. He’s been integral all season and won’t be dropped unless he’s injured or suspended.




CB – Pontus Jansson – It would’ve been interesting to see if Jansson would’ve started had Cooper not pleaded guilty to his charge of violent conduct. As it was Jansson came through the full 90 minutes and came through unscathed after his recent Hamstring injury and we’ll need him back to his best on Saturday, Preston are a good attacking team and we’d be mistaken to underestimate them.

LB – Charlie Taylor – Berardi didn’t do a lot wrong again but we need to play Taylor on Saturday. We missed his overlapping runs on Tuesday and I think he would’ve complimented Dallas well down the left.

Into the midfield…




CDM – Kalvin Phillips – Didn’t do a lot wrong on Tuesday but certainly didn’t influence the game as he would’ve liked. I think it’s 50/50 whether Monk will go with him or Vieira but we need to get back to winning ways and with Jansson and Bartley in central defence it should allow for a more roaming midfielder rather than one who will simply sit back and play simple passes.

CDM – Eunan O’Kane – Bridcutt was poor on Tuesday and was subbed off in the second half. O’Kane is something of a forgotten man around Elland Road of late and it’s time to bring him back to the midfield, his creativity will be imperative if we’re to get anything from the game on Saturday.


CAM – Kemar Roofe –
It’s definitely time to give Hernandez a rest in my opinion. Some of our best form this season came with Roofe in the side and he’s been unfortunate not to start more games recently. I think it’s time Monk went with Roofe at CAM, especially with Hernandez not being at his best recently.




Into the attack…




RW – Souleymane Doukara – Not too often I say this but I think not starting Doukara in our last two away games is a mistake on Monk’s half, especially given Barrow’s performance on Tuesday. Doukara seems to bring a lot of balance to the squad without being spectacular. I’d go with him on the right Saturday, we’ll have plenty of pace on the bench should we need it.

LW – Alfonso Pedraza – Dropped against Brentford for Dallas who was largely ineffective. Pedraza came on and showed some flashes and I think Monk will start with him on the left on Saturday.

ST – Chris Wood – Barely had a kick all game, it’s not what we’ve come to see from him or Leeds this season. He doesn’t deserve to be dropped by any stretch but he needs the players around him to start picking up their form again.

I can’t stress how important this game is. Preston are flying and if they beat us I’d certainly be worried about our Play-Off place. I don’t care how we do it I just want to win. Let us know your score predictions in the comments below.

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  • Bring Antonsdon back into the side, a far better striker than Roofe or Doukara, Monks reasoning that he wouldn’t work with Wood is rubbish, he played great against Shef wed and scored, the only genuine two footed attecjer we have

  • Ernest Nelson says:

    Yes I would play antonson but keep Hernandez out and we must play roof we need players in who is Gina give that extra for us some players in the side under performing let’s give it all long live l.u.f.c.

  • Christopher Rutherford says:

    I hink by now that Leeds United have the squad to stay in the play offs and win. But what is going on outside the game is something thats confusing this make up. Why is Monk changing something when its not broken. Come on Monk stay realistic and stop changing the squad you know that can win the play-offs!

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