Two Yorkshire teams fighting at opposite ends of the Championship table will do battle on Saturday, as Rotherham United travel to Elland Road to take on Leeds United.
The hosts are hot on the heels of second-placed Southampton in the race for automatic promotion, while their visitors sit at the bottom of the division with a 12-point gap to safety.
Match preview
© Reuters
Leeds United return to Elland Road at the weekend as one of the Championship's form sides with the aim of extending a fine run in their bid to win automatic promotion back to the Premier League under the management of Daniel Farke.
The Yorkshire outfit have certainly laid a strong claim for a top-two spot thus far, earning 60 points from their first 30 league outings, winning 18 of those while suffering six defeats.
Two of those losses came consecutively at the hands of Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion at the end of December to leave a dent in the Whites' promotion hopes, but they have bounced back in eye-catching fashion since the turn of the year, putting up five straight wins in England's second tier, firstly dishing out 3-0 beatings to Birmingham City and Cardiff City.
Preston North End and Norwich City then visited Elland Road and Farke's men picked up 2-1 and 1-0 victories, before travelling to Bristol City in their most recent league outing last Friday and making it five on the bounce with a 1-0 triumph thanks to Willy Gnonto's goal.
Now with further momentum on the back of a 4-1 triumph after extra time away at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday to book a place in the FA Cup round of 16, Leeds United will turn their focus back to Championship action and bid to make it six straight league wins with the chance to leapfrog second-placed Southampton who are just a point better off.
© Reuters
They meet a Rotherham United side in a contrasting predicament, with the visitors rooted to the foot of the Championship in the midst of a particularly tough spell.
After a creditable 19th-placed finish last time around, the South Yorkshire outfit set out to again maintain their second-tier status this term, but their position is in major jeopardy with just 19 points on the board from their 29 outings thus far.
Leam Richardson stepped in to lead the Millers' survival bid in mid-December, and after starting with three straight losses, he was able to oversee a first victory of his tenure against Middlesbrough on Boxing Day, but they have since been unable to build on that result and move closer to jumping out of the bottom three, instead adding just three more points to their tally in the last five attempts.
Creditable draws with Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers did follow around the turn of the year, and after a 1-0 defeat to Stoke City, Richardson's side took another pleasing point from a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture away at Middlesbrough thanks to Cafu's goal, but they now head into the weekend on the back of a 16th league loss of the campaign last weekend, as Jan Bednarek and Adam Armstrong fired Southampton to a 2-0 triumph at the New York Stadium.
While Rotherham United cannot be too disheartened by that defeat to the promotion-chasing Saints, their tough campaign has already left them 12 points adrift of safety in 24th spot, and with 17 games left to play, one more than the four sides above them in the fight for survival, Richardson's men will know they need a dramatic upturn in form, starting with a major upset at the weekend, to stand a real chance of escaping the drop this year.
Team News
© Reuters
After making rotations for their FA Cup tie away at Plymouth, Daniel Farke should revert to a full-strength Leeds United starting XI at the weekend, with winger Daniel James likely remaining confined to the treatment room alongside Stuart Dallas and defender Pascal Struijk.
In James's absence, Willy Gnonto is bound to keep his place on the right wing after scoring in back-to-back matches, while Patrick Bamford, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville should return to complete the attacking unit in their 4-2-3-1 shape.
In Struijk's absence, key midfielder Ethan Ampadu should again deputise alongside Joe Rodon at centre-back, leaving Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev to partner up in the engine room, while Connor Roberts will hope to earn a debut on the right-hand side of the defence after arriving on loan for Burnley but may have to settle for a place on the bench, with 17-year-old Archie Gray having impressed thus far.
Rotherham United continue to deal with a long list of injuries, made worse recently by the loss of left-back Cohen Bramall, while Grant Hall, Tyler Blackett, Shane Ferguson and Andre Green remain confined to the treatment room.
Defender Cameron Humphreys did return to the squad for the Southampton game after his long layoff, though, and he will bid to come back into the middle of the back five from the outset on Saturday alongside Sean Morrison and Hakeem Odoffin, while Oliver Rathbone will bid to return to the midfield after Jamie Lindsay, Christ Tiehi, Sam Clucas and Cafu were preferred last time out.
At the top end of the pitch, Jordan Hugill will hope to again lead the line as a lone striker, although Richardson did add to his ranks with the capture of Charlie Wyke in January, and he, alongside Sam Nombe and Tom Eaves will also fight to come in up front.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Gray, Rodon, Ampadu, Firpo; Gruev, Kamara; Gnonto, Rutter, Summerville; Bamford
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Peltier, Odoffin, Morrison, Humphreys, Revan; Clucas, Rathbone, Tiehi, Cafu; Hugill
We say: Leeds United 3-0 Rotherham United
With home advantage, more quality throughout their squad and plenty of momentum behind them, Leeds United should fancy their chances to beat their Yorkshire rivals in dominant fashion at Elland Road at the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
