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Attendance: 35,819
Leeds logo
Championship | Gameweek 33
Feb 15, 2020 at 3pm UK
 
Bristol City

1-0

Ayling (16')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Preview: Leeds United vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Leeds United and Bristol City, including team news and predicted lineups.

Leeds United will be looking for just their second Championship win of 2020 when they welcome Bristol City to Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

Marcelo Bielsa's side remain second in the table despite a poor run of form, while Bristol City are just outside the playoffs in seventh having won five of their last six in England's second tier.


Match preview

Shocked Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa on February 8, 2020© Reuters

It would be fair to say that many Leeds fans were fearful heading into Tuesday's clash with Brentford, and their mood would not have been helped when under-fire goalkeeper Kiko Casilla dropped a huge clanger to allow the hosts to take the lead.

The Whites responded impressively to secure a share of the spoils at Griffin Park, though, and it will go down as an important result having lost to Wigan Athletic and Nottingham Forest in their two previous games.

There is no getting away from the fact that Leeds have now only won one of their last seven in the Championship, though, which has seen the gap to third position evaporate.

Indeed, Bielsa's side are now level on points with third-placed Fulham and sit six behind leaders West Bromwich Albion, who are just starting to pull clear of the chasing pack at a key stage of the campaign.

The Whites are certainly due a big result, but the fact that they are only three points clear of seventh-placed Bristol City heading into this contest is an indication of their precarious position.

Filip Benkovic celebrates scoring for Bristol City against Derby County on February 12, 2020© Reuters

A horror run of form in the latter stages of 2019 saw Bristol City pick up just three points from five matches, while they also started 2020 with a 4-0 home defeat to Brentford.

Things have turned in recent weeks, though, and Lee Johnson's side will enter this match having won five of their last six in the Championship to move to within the brink of the top six.

The Robins, who just fell short of the playoffs last season as they finished eighth, recorded a 3-2 victory over Derby County on Wednesday evening.

They will actually follow the trip to Elland Road with a home game against leaders West Brom next weekend, and their results in the two fixtures could determine whether they are capable of challenging for promotion.

Leeds have won five of their last six Championship meetings, though, and have lost just once to the Robins in the league since 1979, which is an indication of the size of the task facing the visitors this weekend.

Leeds Championship form: LLWLLD

Bristol City Championship form: WWWWLW
Bristol City form (all competitions): LWWWLW


Team News

Brentford's Said Benrahma scores their first goal against Leeds on February 11, 2020© Reuters

Leeds midfielder Adam Forshaw has been ruled out for the remainder of the season as he prepares to undergo hip surgery, while Tyler Roberts and Robbie Gotts are both unavailable through injury.

Bielsa revealed at Thursday's press conference that the Whites had not picked up any fresh concerns from the Brentford clash, though, and therefore the same XI could take to the field.

Jean-Kevin Augustin is still waiting for his first start since arriving on loan last month, but Patrick Bamford will continue in attack despite failing to score in seven of his last eight Championship outings.

Casilla has also been confirmed as a starter despite his clanger against the Bees.

Bristol City, meanwhile, will again be without the services of Tomas Kalas, Marley Watkins and Benik Afobe.

Filip Benkovic, Nakhi Wells and Markus Henriksen all made their first starts for the club on Wednesday night, and it appears that all three could retain their spots this weekend.

Andreas Weimann and Tommy Rowe are two players who will be pushing to return to the starting XI this weekend, although Johnson is unlikely to make significant changes from the win over the Rams.

Leeds possible starting lineup:
Casilla; Ayling, White, Cooper, Dallas; Costa, Hernandez, Phillips, Klich, Harrison; Bamford

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Hunt, Williams, Benkovic, Dasilva; Paterson, Henriksen, Smith, Eliasson; Wells, Diedhiou


Sports Mole Logo

We say: Leeds 1-1 Bristol City

Leeds are certainly due a win, but it is difficult to back them with any real confidence this weekend considering Bristol City's form. The visitors have so much quality in the final third, and we fancy Johnson's side to pick up a share of the spoils at Elland Road.



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a win with a probability of 66.84%. A draw had a probability of 19.2% and a win for had a probability of 13.93%.

The most likely scoreline for a win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.3%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.49%) and 2-1 (9.81%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.11%), while for a win it was 0-1 (4.23%).


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Brentford's Said Benrahma scores their first goal against Leeds on February 11, 2020
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


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