Leeds United at Hull City preview: Whites to re-invent themselves away to Tigers
After a 5 game winless run and a paused re-brand, the Whites need to re-invent themselves on the pitch to re-ignite their season after poor discipline affected recent performances.
A battling second half display with only ten men against Millwall showed glimpses of the Leeds United we all fell in love with. Their determination was only let down by ill-discipline, both in defensive errors and self-control.
This week, the United team have escaped the media spotlight, being away on a pre-planned winter training break to Murcia where Thomas Christiansen will surely have worked on areas of discipline, and on the bedding in of new players to what will be a forced new line up for the East meets West Yorkshire derby on Tuesday night.
The new additions of De Bock and Forshaw will help address the gaps left by suspensions in what is sure to be a feisty encounter Discipline may once again be the focus. Hull City considers Leeds as one of their main rivals, and they have had a recent upswing in form under new manager, Nigel Adkins, losing only two of their last six games.
United currently have four key players suspended and have injury problems. Conversely, Adkins and Hull have a selection headache with a near full compliment of players at their disposal. This could be the key to unlocking the narrow margins in their favour.
Adkins speaking of his joy at having a full squad:
“It’s brilliant. It’s exactly what we need. You want to be able to say during the course of a game ‘where’s the impact player coming off the bench?’ We’ve got Seb Larsson and David Meyler to come into contention in midfield. There’s strength in depth there now.”
Key Man
Since his incoming loan from Everton, Matthew Pennington has been kept out of the side by the form of Liam Cooper. Pennington must now stand up and be counted, taking Cooper’s suspension as his opportunity to stake a claim for a regular start, especially if he wishes to make his move permanent. Coming on against Millwall, I was impressed with the way he slotted in, making several key interceptions.
Pennington’s stats v Millwall: 48 Minutes, 3 Clearances, 2 Blocks, Passing accuracy of 78%, 3 Interceptions, 40% of Aerial Duels won.
Hull City
A Pablo Hernandez goal was the difference between these two sides when they met just before Christmas. Since then, Adkins has had time to re-organise his squad and get to know his players better after taking the helm December 7th.
Whilst in charge, his performance stats in the league are W1 L4 D3.
Over the full season, the Tigers have played 28, lost 13, won 5, and drawn 10. They have conceded 45 and scored 39 goals giving them 25 points and leaving them just one place above the drop zone on goal difference alone.
Their top scorer is Jarrod Bowen on 12, followed by Grosicki on 6.
Injury and suspension news
Of course, Cooper, Phillips, O’Kane and Saiz are suspended for Tuesday night’s fixture. Ekuban is on the injured list, 10–14 days away from a return. Ayling is out for the season, but Forshaw is expected to be in the squad whilst we await news of Lasogga and Vieira who were both subbed off against Millwall.
Lonergan (who is being courted by Sunderland) will be in the squad although Wiedwald is expected to start.
Hull City has no new injury woes.
Form
Leeds United: W| L | D | L | L
Hull City: D | D | L | D | L
Head-to-Head
In games between the sides all-time, there have been 47 meetings: 22 wins to Leeds, 14 to Hull, and 11 games drawn.
WHAT
Hull City vs. Leeds United
EFL Championship fixture
#HULLEE
WHERE
KCOM Stadium, Hull
SKY Football, BBC Radio Leeds, Elland Road Beamback
International Listings
WHEN
Tuesday, 30 January 2018
7:45pm BT
WHO
Leeds United’s predicted starting XI
Wiedwald, De Bock, Pennington, Jansson, Berardi, Forshaw, Vieira, Alioski, Roofe, Hernandez, Lasogga
Hull City’s predicted starting XI
Marshall, Aina, Hector, Mazuch, Clark, Henrickson, Stuart, Bowen, Irvine, Diomande, Dicko
ODDS
Leeds 23/10
Draw 12/5
Hull 23/20
PREDICTION
All things being equal, I feel TC will approach this game with caution and that we will fare better than the odds suggest. A draw is a good bet. 1–1.
