please log in to view this image Leeds United vs Huddersfield Town please log in to view this image Saturday February 1st, 2014 - K.O 15:00 - Elland Road please log in to view this image A Yorkshire Derby game see's Huddersfield Town visit Elland Road amidst of all the turmoil going on behind the scenes. In a bid to keep this about the football (we've got plenty of threads on everything else!) let's just say I hope the off the field issues don't have too many repercussions on it. Leeds are still searching for the win that will break the bad run, with Tuesday evening making it 7 Championship games without a win, though the draw did stop the 5 loss slump. Fingers were pointed once again at a glaring mistake by goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, though questions have to be raised over the performance of Jimmy Kebe, and many of the other squad members. Huddersfield were unable to improve their away record last time out, going down to Bournemouth 2-1 on a waterlogged pitch. What Do The Stats Say? Both of these teams are resigning to the fact that the playoffs are looking increasingly out of reach this season, but the Terriers are in slightly better form than Leeds, and have history on their side going into this fixture. Huddersfield have taken 3 points from the last two meetings, and hold the upper hand with 26 wins to 18 overall. Leeds have only managed 3 goals since New Years day, combine this with the fact Huddersfield have scored at least 2 in their last 5 meetings with Leeds and it all starts to look a bit one sided. However Leeds can take some solace in Huddersfields recent away record, losing their last 3 whilst conceding at least 2 goals in each. Form Guide (Last 5 League 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]Huddersfield[/TD] [TD]W - L - W - L - L[/TD] [TD="align: center"]10[/TD] [TD="align: center"]8[/TD] [TD="align: center"]6[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Leeds[/TD] [TD]L - L - L - L - X[/TD] [TD="align: center"]3[/TD] [TD="align: center"]12[/TD] [TD="align: center"]1[/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="align: center"]Huddersfield[/TD] [TD="align: center"]61[/TD] [TD="align: center"]26[/TD] [TD="align: center"]17[/TD] [TD="align: center"]18[/TD] [TD="align: center"]86[/TD] [TD="align: center"]76[/TD] [TD="align: center"]10[/TD] [TD="align: center"]95[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: center"]Leeds[/TD] [TD="align: center"]61[/TD] [TD="align: center"]18[/TD] [TD="align: center"]17[/TD] [TD="align: center"]26[/TD] [TD="align: center"]76[/TD] [TD="align: center"]86[/TD] [TD="align: center"]-10[/TD] [TD="align: center"]71[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Early Betting Odds (Correct on 30/01/14) [TABLE="width: 500, align: center"] [TR] [TD="align: center"]Leeds Win[/TD] [TD="align: center"]Draw[/TD] [TD="align: center"]Huddersfield Win[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: center"]5/4[/TD] [TD="align: center"]23/10[/TD] [TD="align: center"]11/5[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leeds United Top Scorers (League) Ross McCormack...18 Matt Smith...7 Rodolph Austin...2 Ross McCormack added to his goal scoring tally with a penalty against Ipswich midweek, but he will continue without strike partner Matt Smith who is still suspended for this one. El Hadji Diouf started with little impact, and by all accounts Poleon looked more lively when he came one, so maybe the youngster will get a start here. Otherwise Brian McDermott will continue to experiment to find his best team, but the fans patience with new signings Cameron Stewart and Jimmy Kebe seems to have all but run out. Huddersfield Town Top Scorers (League) James Vaughan...10 Danny Ward...5 Martin Paterson...5 Huddersfield have suffered something of an injury wave recently, and with Clarke, Stead, Lynch and leading scorer James Vaughan all marked as doubtful for this fixture, they aren't out of the woods yet. Ex-Leeds player Adam Clayton will look to gain control of the midfield here, though he'll have to deal with a very physical Leeds midfield. The Damned Prediction: 2-1 Win That's right, I'm sticking my neck out and saying this is the game that will stop the rot. It's a local derby which should have the team fired up, and Huddersfield have been struggling away from home. Paddy Kenny has a point to prove after essentially being blamed for the last 2 goals we conceded, arguably costing us 4 points in the process. Huddersfield are also missing a few of their regulars, so fingers crossed we can take advantage and record 3 points for the first time since mid December. please log in to view this image Kebe and Stewart haven't come up with the goods, so I'm moving for a return to the 3-5-2 for this one. Poleon in for the suspended Smith, and a return to the midfield for Mowatt. I've dropped Brown in place of Murphy for something like 60 minutes to add a bit of steel. We need someone to really break up the play if we are going to get back to winning ways and that's what Browny does best. Over to the not606 faithful, let's have some football talk!
Great match thread as always Durham Agree with your line up, except I'd start with Murphy instead of Austin
Cheers LiE, I was toying with that change in the lineup too. Murphy did seem to be kicking on fairly well in this system
I must have seen something different to everyone else in the Ipswich game. There is a 6 minute highlight video out there that I watched last night. Kebe and Stewart seemed lively and involved in almost every Leeds attack shown. My line up: Kenny (despite that horrendous howler) Byram Pearce Lees Warnock Kebe Austin Brown/Mowatt Stewart McCormack Poleon
Shamelessly bumping this thread so it doesn't get lost before tomorrow.... Jonny, not a bad looking 4-4-2, but I wonder what both your and my lineup would look like if the worst happened and we lost Ross and Sam this deadline day
Perhaps, the point I attempted to make was that in those 6 minutes those 2 looked better than the rest. Perhaps, some might say, that highlight video was prepared by their agents, BeeMacDee or the chaps on the grassy knoll...
You did realise we were playing white, right? Fook knows what they showed you cos it wasn't filmed at ER on Tuesday night.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1...rs&utm_campaign=Alert-SubscriptionDigestUsers Now you know what "they showed me" too.
Morning everyone Well yesterday was certainly eventful to say the least. I'm still angry about what happened, and still don't have any faith that Festa would be the person to take this club forwards. Add that to the fact that we might not have our main sponsors, apparently got at least one loan signing over the line last night and I don't think any of us really know what to expect with regards to todays game! We kept hold of Ross which is a massive positive, though I don't think any of us would have blamed him for taking a move had one been made available to him under the circumstances. Interestingly Cellino allegedly blocked the transfer of Varney as well, not sure what the justification for that will be. So in a bid to at least get SOME football chat going again, how does all of this influence your thoughts on today's game and outcome? I heard that Dawson might be in the squad, but if Redders is in charge, I don't expect anything too drastic to happen with our starting lineup. I can see something of a lacklustre performance though, and might just about be changing my prediction from a win to a loss for us.
The atmosphere towards Celino is going to be toxic after yesterday. I'm not expecting us to win this game.