Leeds United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. preview: Can Heckingbottom defeat table topping Wolves at the 3rd attempt?
Leeds look to get back to winning ways against high flying Wolves
Wolves arrive at Elland Road tonight in the top spot in the Championship. We all know that they have spent money but no matter how much you spend it is about getting the right players in. Something Leeds seem to have failed to do with United’s players not realising the potential that brought them to Elland Road.
The money the Wanderers have spent is a talking point and their rivals have called for an inquiry in Jorge Mendes’ influence but it’s their style of play that is attracting attention. They play a dynamic 3–4–3 formation with one touch passing and venomous attacks that have brought them 59 goals and 73 points and they still have 12 games to go.
The record points won in the Championship is 106 achieved by Reading F.C. in 2005/06
In getting the right players in Wolves head coach and former Portuguese Goal Keeper Nuno Espírito Santo has been helped by connections with ‘Super Agent’ Jorge Mendes. In comparison our own chief recruiter, Victor Orta looks more like a bearded Inspector Clouseau than Super Agent, as he fumbles around in the bargain basements with loose change.
Nuno seems to have found the right blend of European and British style players in his squad necessary to compete in the Championship and in his chosen style. As if to highlight this point (at the time of writing) the joint top assists for the EFL Championship are Barry Douglas (Scotland) and Ivan Cavaliero (Portugal) both on 10 so far.
Whilst sitting pretty Wolves aren’t infallible. They have lost five times this season and playing three at the back often leaves a team exposed at the rear flanks. So a common approach is to deploy a defensive midfielder to act as sweeper when playing 3–4–3. For Wolves that man is often Moroccan International Romain Saiss. Leeds need to exploit these gaps by employing some pace out wide on the counter. I feel Heckingbottom should utilise Ekuban in a roll to link up with Lasogga in a 4–4–1–1. Lasogga doesn’t have the pace and could be left too deep, or isolated as Wolves play their high pressing game. Lasogga alone will not be much of an outlet.
Heckingbottom however has already met Wolves twice this season with his former club Barnsley. Losing 2–1 away he secured a point in a goalless draw at home by keeping the Wanderers potent strike force at bay.
Key battle
A key man for Wolves is Romain Saiss. It will be his job to break down Leeds’ counters created by Samu Saiz as he attempts to set Lasogga or Ekuban free. Lets hope that this area of the pitch is where the main percentage of action is. On his day Saiz can be unplayable yet it’s the team performances of Romain Saiss that has made Premiership clubs sit up and take note. Liverpool was reportedly interested in the £12 million rated Moroccan January.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Being top of the table it’s no wonder they have 2 players in the top ten leading goal scorers for the Championship and 2 players in the top 5 assists, proving it’s a team effort.
Leading scorers are Léo Bonatini and Diogo Jota both on 12.
Their passing accuracy is 81%
They have scored 19 goals from set pieces, 7 of which from corners. This doesn’t bode well for our keeper who struggles with corners.
Of the 28 goals they have conceded only 4 have been scored from outside the box.
In their last game Wolves lost 2–0 away to Fulham.
Injury news
Ayling and Shaughnessy are long term absentees for the Whites. Hernandez should be available again however Roofe and Lonergan will miss. Tyler Roberts will also not feature.
Wolves will be without suspended star man Ruben Neves however Jota and Afobe could be recalled after recent absences.
Form
Leeds United: L | L | D | W | L
Wolves: W| W | D | D | L
Head-to-head
These two sides have met 44 times at Elland Road. Leeds have won 25 games, Wolves 8 with 11 draws.
WHAT
Leeds United v Wolverhampton Wanderers
EFL Sky Bet Championship fixture
WHERE
Elland Road, Leeds
Sky Football Channel, BBC Radio Leeds, International listings
WHEN
Wednesday 7 March 2018.
7:45pm BT
WHO
Predicted Starting XI’s
Leeds United: Weidwald, Anita, Jansson, Cooper, Berardi, Phillips, O’kane, Dallas, Alioski, Saiz, Lasogga
Wolves: Ruddy, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Douglas, N’Diaye, Saiss, Doherty, Costa, Bonatini, Cavaleiro
ODDS
Leeds United: 3/1
Wolves: Evens
Draw: 9/4
Prediction
It is difficult for me to ever predict a United loss but after recent performances, it’s difficult for me to predict a win. It’s win or bust for us now anyway and I’d prefer to see go down to a battling 3–2 then 1–0 whilst hoping to get a draw. I’m not sure we will go for it though so my prediction is a 2–1 loss.
