Leeds United v Blackburn Rovers preview: Team news, where to watch, prediction
Leeds United will be eager to extend their stay at the top of the Championship as they kick off 2025 with a clash against Blackburn Rovers.
After Sheffield United got a point against West Brom, Daniel Farke’s side got a late winner against Derby County on Sunday (29 December) to give them a two-point lead at the top of the table.
Blackburn come into this game without a win in three which the Whites will be hoping to take advantage of at Elland Road.
Preview
Despite a strong performance against Derby, for a while it looked as though Farke’s side would have to settle for a point at Pride Park but a 79th-minute goal from Brenden Aaronson ensured the West Yorkshire outfit went away with all three points.
Meanwhile, Rovers have seen their form dip of late and they will be looking to get back on track with a victory at Elland Road after a 1-0 loss against Hull City at the weekend.
Blackburn sit fifth in the league but only a point clear of seventh place meaning they cannot afford to get into a rut and drop too many points as the season progresses.
Last time out, it was John Eustace’s side who came out on top with a 1-0 win at Ewood Park at the end of November. Therefore, it is up to Leeds to put this right and get their revenge.
Form Guide [Championship]
Leeds United: WWWDW
Blackburn Rovers: LDLWW
Head-to-Head [all competitions]
Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Leeds United (30 November, 2024)
Leeds United 0-1 Blackburn Rovers (13 April, 2024)
Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Leeds United (9 December, 2023)
Blackburn Rovers 1-3 Leeds United (4 July, 2020)
Leeds United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers (9 November, 2019)
Team News
Farke finds himself in a fairly good position with the availability of his squad, although Junior Firpo, Ilia Gruev and Max Wober remain on the sidelines.
However, with a quick turnaround between games, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the German make some changes to his side.
The opposition are set to be without Arnor Sigurdsson and Balazs Toth, who are injured as well as Hayden Carter and Scott Wharton are both long-term absentees.
Predicted lineups
Leeds United: Meslier, Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Byram, Tanaka, Ampadu, Gnonto, Aaronson, James, Piroe
Blackburn Rovers: Pears, Brittain, Batth, Hyam, Beck, Baker, Tronstad, Weimann, Cantwell, Dolan, Ohashi
Where to watch?
The Championship clash has a 3pm kick-off time and supporters are able to watch the game on Sky Sports Plus.
Prediction: Leeds United 2-0 Blackburn Rovers
Leeds will be keen to get revenge on Blackburn after losing at Ewood Park and will surely come out of this one on top.
The Whites know that they can extend their stay at the top of the table with three points without relying on Sheffield United dropping points.
Furthermore, as a side in a good run of form they will have the momentum and the Elland Road crowd on side to push them over the line.
Meanwhile, Rovers are in a tough spell of form and heading to the league leaders is not the ideal game to try and correct this.
In other Leeds news, a promotion rival player’s camp have claimed that the Whites want to sign him.
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