please log in to view this image Leicester City vs Leeds United please log in to view this image Sunday August 11th, 2013 - K.O 16:30 - King Power Stadium please log in to view this image Leeds' first away day of the season sees a visit to the King Power stadium to take on Nigel Pearson's Leicester City. This is a fixture with a lot of history, and this will be the 115th league meeting of the teams. Recent meetings have been evenly split with 2 wins each and 2 draws since the teams were reunited in the Championship in 2010/11, with the history slightly favouring the visiting side on those occasions. Both teams have enjoyed a good start to the campaign recording victories in both the opening league and cup fixtures. Leicester looked lively in their opening game against a Middlesborough side hoping for a good season and Pearson will take heart from the amount of chances created across both of their games so far. Although it took until the 96th minute for the Foxes to get a winner against Wycombe midweek, they dominated the second half and could have taken the lead a number of times before St Ledger stabbed the ball home to see them through to the second round. Leeds made hard work of it after falling behind within the first 20 minutes but a spirited response saw 2 goals in 4 minutes from Brown and Poleon, and saw them through to the second round wrapping up a pretty underwhelming performance. Leicester were faced with the unenviable task of massively reducing their outgoings over the summer, which lead to the departure of high earning ex Leeds boy Jermaine Beckford. With Zoumana Bakayogo the only signing in through the door, and Pearson saying that others are unlikely, the Foxes may have to turn to the loan market if any further strength is to be added. Another high earner, Paul Konchesky is rumoured to be leaving for QPR, and seeing as Bakayogo is a left back there may well be some weight to that rumour. Leeds are also under the strain wage wise, McDermott remains insistent that he is working on bringing a player in, but seems resiliant to meeting large wage demands. Form Guide (Last 5 Games) [TABLE="width: 500, align: center"] [TR] [TD]Team[/TD] [TD]Form[/TD] [TD="align: center"]F[/TD] [TD="align: center"]A[/TD] [TD="align: center"]Pts[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Leeds United[/TD] [TD]W - L - W - W - W[/TD] [TD="align: center"]11[/TD] [TD="align: center"]4[/TD] [TD="align: center"]12[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Leicester[/TD] [TD]L - L - L - W- W[/TD] [TD="align: center"]6[/TD] [TD="align: center"]10[/TD] [TD="align: center"]6[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Head to Head (Previous League Games) [TABLE="width: 500, align: center"] [TR] [TD="align: center"]Team[/TD] [TD="align: center"]P[/TD] [TD="align: center"]W[/TD] [TD="align: center"]D[/TD] [TD="align: center"]L[/TD] [TD="align: center"]F[/TD] [TD="align: center"]A[/TD] [TD="align: center"]GD[/TD] [TD="align: center"]Pts[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Leeds[/TD] [TD="align: center"]114[/TD] [TD="align: center"]45[/TD] [TD="align: center"]32[/TD] [TD="align: center"]37[/TD] [TD="align: center"]225[/TD] [TD="align: center"]217[/TD] [TD="align: center"]+8[/TD] [TD="align: center"]167[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Leicester[/TD] [TD="align: center"]114[/TD] [TD="align: center"]37[/TD] [TD="align: center"]32[/TD] [TD="align: center"]45[/TD] [TD="align: center"]217[/TD] [TD="align: center"]225[/TD] [TD="align: center"]-8[/TD] [TD="align: center"]143[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Early Betting Odds (Correct on 9/8/13) [TABLE="width: 500, align: center"] [TR] [TD]Leicester Win[/TD] [TD]Draw[/TD] [TD]Leeds Win[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]4/6[/TD] [TD]11/4[/TD] [TD]4/1[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Team News Leeds United Sam Byram is still on the treatment table, and there are still questions over the fitness of El-Hadji Diouf and Stephen Warnock who pulled up short last weekend. Adam Drury could hold on to his starting spot depending on Warnock's fitness, and Rudy Austin is now available having served his ban and could well feature here. After taking his goal well in the midweek fixture, Dominic Poleon has done nothing to hurt his chances of making himself a first team choice, while Matt Smith is likely to only feature as a substitute. Ones to Watch Ross McCormack - He opened his account last weekend, and looked dangerous whenever he was on the ball. There's a good reason clubs are trying to steal him away. Luke Murphy - Got off to a great start to his Leeds career and he will be looking to solidify that and build in what could be a serious midfield battle. Rodolph Austin - Back from suspension, Rudy looked good in pre season and his hard tackling and ability to pick a pass could have a huge influence. Leicester City Leicester are hoping that Zak Whitbread will be available for selection after being stretchered off against Middlesborough, while Matty James who picked up a knock midweek is unlikely to make the team. Anthony Knockaert seems the likely man to step into the vacant midfield role. Jamie Vardy had a good game last weekend and with David Nugent featuring heavily in the cup game, Vardy should keep his starting position alongside Chris Wood. Nigel Pearson has been sticking to his guns with a 3-5-2 seeing Richie De Laet and Paul Konchesky as the wing backs, and at they will probably continue that system here. Ones to Watch Jamie Vardy - Lively in the opening day fixture and took his goal well, his fluid movement will keep Leeds' defenders guessing. Paul Konchesky - Although rumoured to be leaving, Konchesky adds some danger marauding forward in his new wing back role. He has pace and will look to exploit Leeds lack of width to create chances. Sean St Ledger - Linked with a move to Leeds last season, he got a goal at both ends last weekend. Always a threat from set pieces, but he has been prone to defensive slip ups in the past. Durham's Prediction I'm going for a 1-1 draw here. Leicester can be a tricky side to play, and they've started their season well. Playing their new 3-5-2 system allows them to control the midfield and put some serious pressure on the opposition defence, so I'd like to see McDermott change our system appropriately. One thing I didn't like about Warnock was sticking to his guns against any opposition rather than adapting. We had a good chat about this on yesterdays morning thread, and I think our best option against a 3-5-2 would be to play a 4-3-3. If we can get 3 on 3 with their defence there will be all sorts of opportunities to pull them out of shape and create chances for on rushing midfielders as well. McCormack, Poleon and Hunt would be my choice for doing that job. But here's my starting XI: please log in to view this image This allows for quite a lot of fluidity, with Murphy and Austin protecting the fullbacks when their wing backs come forward, and any one of the front 3 drifting into the channels to expose the space that will be there. We'd need McCormack and Hunt to track back a little bit into midfield, but that should help make sure we don't get overwhelmed in the middle of the park. Playing with a front 3 in this way should also mean that we don't need Peltier and Drury to get forward as much, and so won't be as exposed to fast counter attacks. In terms of subs, Varney could play anywhere up front, and Tonge could easily fit into the midfield. I think Brown would be a good shout as well, but that depends on his fitness after putting in a huge shift in midweek. Possible Video Links for Sunday: First Row Sports Possible Audio Links for Sunday: BBC Radio Leeds FM Coverage (whitenoisefc on ustream) & ustream leeds are two pretty reliable options. Let's get some score and team predictions going. Anyone going over for the game?
1-1 - can't see us keeping a clean sheet but fancy us to get a result of some sort. We drew the same game last year, thank we can do the same I think your team has the 3 best midfield players, LID, just wonder if they are the best together, whether Tonge gives more width, will be interesting to see what BM does in midfield. Unless I have missed something and he's not available, I think he will play Varney, and leave himself with Poleon and Smith to bring on as needed.
I think you're right on the Varney/Poleon thing. I'd like to see Poleon but that's just personal preference. As for the mid-3 I almost went for Austin in that central role and Tonge on the left of the 3, but Green played a blinder last weekend, and McDermott seems to really like him. To be honest I'd be looking for the width to come from the 2 "wide" strikers rather than those midfield 3 just to protect against Leicester having a midfield 5
LID, Agree with these comments so far. That's pretty much the team I'd go for as well, perhaps, swapping McCormack and Poleon? as I know we would both like to see Ross up front as an out and out striker. I think Poleon is probably best in the central role too, but when you dont have any wingers!!! Poleon looks a handful and I perhaps feel we'd lose less if we move Poleon slightly out of position than we would McCormack? However, I also admit that I don't work with these players on a daily basis and only BMD really knows the true strengths of each player so in BMD I trust! I'm starting to feel really positive about this team now. Centre back and a winger (or two) though and we'd really be laughing!
Another good thread LiD. With Leicester playing 3 at the back, I hope we start with Poleon and Hall or AN Other to give us a bit of width to attack their fullbacks. I also hope that Diouf is at least on the bench, as he has the ability to make the telling passes that will get round a 5 man midfield. I did think about a narrow 1-0 for Leeds, but on reflection, a 1-1 draw wouldn't be a bad result.
Agreed. I can't wait to see what he does. On that point, apart from Murphy and Hunt, NW could have put LID's starting eleven out. Somehow, I would not have 1% as much confidence in the outcome, though.
Even Colin wouldn't have been that stupid Orion. No, he'd have had him on the bench to burst on in the last 5 minutes to score the goal that helps us to a 4-1 loss as opposed to a 4-0 loss.
Agree with the line up but I think Varney will be there instead. Are the BBC actually going to broadcast this through the website?
My only worry, because I do feel optimistic about this season, is that we don't have a winger! BMD said the same yesterday, he wants a new winger as he has none - his words, so he classes White as full back and discounts Hall full stop. If Hall had any chance of making it, he should have been given 90-minutes against the spirites to show us he could rip a team apart. He never got on so bye bye Hall. The manager also wants a new centre back. so admits we need 2 strong players at this stage of the season. However I still think we'll better last seasons performances is goals scored, fewere goals conceded, more points and finish hiher, but probably not top 10. leicester however should finish top 6 with their squad, but if they get hammered this weekend they could need a new manager by Monday
Cracking match thread LID I reckon a 1-1 draw to be honest. Would have been 2-1 Leicester if we still had Stevie Howard Good luck lads!
Probably not, they don't broadcast sports commentaries through the website because of some licensing rights. With it being on sky should be pretty straight forward to get a live stream of the game this week though, and I'm sure there will still be backups on ustream if not I agree with you completely on what players we need in, but I think we could make top 10 and with an insanely good run we might luckily scrape the playoffs but that is quite a stretch of the imagination! I think Leicester will be looking top 6 as a minimum this year, but they've had a bit of a hit with needing to offload rather than buy. Cheers fella, thanks for dropping in
Don't be stupid, we wouldn't score late goals under Warnock. Anyone remember this fixture last season? We had the points in the bag until the 85th minute, then lack of fitness allowed us to grab a draw from the jaws of victory.
LID, keep up the good work mate and you could be nominated for best match threads at the end of the season (there was such a thing last season) I pretty much agree with your starting lineup except I would stick with Varney over Poleon. Don't wanna put too much pressure on the young'ens too soon and Varney just looks a touch sharper, fitter and better than last season. Needs a goal though. Also I'm a little surprised you didn't put Wood as a dangerman for them, think he is the one we really need to keep quiet and also if Knockaert plays then we may struggle defensively but weirdly (even the lesta fans think its weird) he hasn't been used by Pearson this season.
Nice thread man, but you've possibly picked our three worst players as 'ones to watch'. You want to watch Schmeichel who has improved no end since his transfer to us, Morgan who in the eyes of many is the best defender in the Championship, Knockaert if he starts in a free role in midfield and also De Laet who has been absolutely brilliant in the 3-5-2. I personally am expecting a very tight game, 3-1. I think we'll get an early goal followed by a quick reply from Leeds. Then late in the half we'll take the lead again followed by an onslaught from you lot for the entire second half before we get a late goal to kill the game off. Our starting line up is likely to be; Schmeichel St Ledger Morgan Miquel De Laet King Drinkwater Bakayogo Knockaert Vardy Nugent
It is slightly strange but you can see why. The system we play now means that he can't play on the wing, but everyone thinks he's better suited in the midfield, just behind the strikers where he can use his passing, tricks and dribbling to really influence the game. But away from home Nige might take a more defensive approach and play someone like King in that position who is more robust in the tackle. I also think Nige might feel that Knocky will receive a Kermorgant style backlash from the fans which isn't the case.
We haven't offloaded anyone that we didn't want to. The players we've sold have been **** for us and on huge wages.
