Man City vs Leeds United preview: Team news, lineups, score prediction
Leeds United face a daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday.
Leeds were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa last time out, with Lukas Nmecha’s first-half opener cancelled out by a Morgan Rogers brace.
Daniel Farke is now under heavy sack pressure at Elland Road, with his side sitting in the Premier League relegation zone.
The Whites will be looking to end a run of three consecutive defeats against third-place Man City, and MOT Leeds News highlights everything you need to know ahead of the match.
Preview
Farke is expected to still be in charge of Leeds for their short journey to Manchester, but his future at the club very much hangs in the balance.
With the pressure on, a game against Pep Guardiola’s side would’ve been exactly what the German didn’t want, as they have the ability to tear the Whites apart.
However, Man City have shown signs of vulnerability this season, and come into the game off the back of two consecutive defeats.
The Citizens were beaten 2-1 by Newcastle United last weekend, before falling to a shock 2-0 loss at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Leeds will hope to take advantage of City’s poor form in recent times and come away from the Etihad Stadium with an unlikely result.
Form guide
Man City (last six all comps): W W W W L L
Leeds (last six all comps): L L W L L L
Head-to-head
It will come as no surprise that Leeds are winless in their last six outings against Man City, but the West Yorkshire outfit did manage to pick up a draw against Guardiola’s side in October 2020.
In what was their fourth game back in the Premier League following promotion from the Championship in the 2019-20 campaign, Rodrigo cancelled out Raheem Sterling’s opener at Elland Road to secure a point for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Since then, though, Leeds have struggled against City, most notably in 2021-22 when they lost 4-0 at home and were thrashed 7-0 away.
Team news and predicted lineups
Leeds could be without Anton Stach for two weeks after he was forced off in the first half of the defeat to Aston Villa.
Without the midfielder, Farke could be tempted to switch to a back five and start Jaka Bijol in an attempt to shore up the defence.
Daniel James has yet to start for Leeds since returning from an ankle injury just over a month ago, but after featuring for 20 minutes against Villa, he may come in to replace Brenden Aaronson.
As for the hosts, Guardiola made 10 changes for the Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen, but after a dismal showing against the German side, he is likely to revert back to a more familiar starting lineup.
Man City predicted XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Silva, Gonzalez, Foden; Cherki, Haaland, Doku
Leeds predicted XI: Perri; Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Struijk, Gudmundsson; Ampadu, Longstaff; James, Nmecha, Okafor
Prediction: Man City 3-0 Leeds
Leeds will make the trip to the Etihad with the intention of keeping it tight for as long as possible, and hoping to utilise the pace of James and Noah Okafor on the break.
Farke’s side have scored just one goal in their last three away games however, so it is difficult to see how they will break down a well-organised Man City side.
Erling Haaland hasn’t found the net in his past two games for the Citizens, and while that would be a positive for Leeds if they were going up against most other Premier League strikers, the reality is that the big Norwegian is probably due a goal.
If Leeds can ride their luck and keep the Man City attackers quiet, they have a chance of nicking something, but it is hard to see anything other than a defeat from Saturday’s outing.
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