Leeds United v Norwich preview: Team news, where to watch, prediction
Leeds United return to Championship action when Norwich City make the trip to Elland Road on Wednesday evening.
Daniel Farke will be keen to further cement his team’s position at the top of the second-tier table after an impressive 3-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday last time out.
However, on paper, the Canaries have a much stronger team than the Owls and if Leeds perform like they did against Danny Rohl’s men for most of the game, the outcome could be a lot different.
Preview
At the moment, Leeds are still on top of the Championship table and seem to be looking to guarantee their place in the top two before the end of the term.
The Whites may have triumphed over their Yorkshire rivals on Sunday but that doesn’t mean that things have been all sunshine and rainbows over the last few weeks.
There have been a couple of slip-ups here and there, with the West Yorkshire outfit evening losing their top spot on occasions.
Norwich will be a solid test for Farke’s men and will help fans decide for themselves whether Leeds have got what it takes to regain their Premier League status.
The Canaries currently sit 11th in the Championship but have been in decent form recently, winning three of their last five second-tier games.
They have plenty of quality among their ranks and, although fans may feel like Leeds will cruise to a victory, Johannes Hoff Thorup’s men certainly won’t allow the Whites to walk all over them.
Championship form guide
Leeds United: WDDWW
Norwich City: LWWDW
Head-to-Head
Norwich City 1-1 Leeds United (1 October)
Leeds United 4 – 0 Norwich City (16 May)
Norwich City 0-0 Leeds United (12 May)
Leeds United 1 – 0 Norwich City (24 January)
Norwich City 2 – 3 Leeds United (21 October)
Team news for Leeds United v Norwich
At the moment, there are a fair few first-team players from within Leeds’ ranks who look set to miss the Championship clash against Norwich on Wednesday.
The main area of concern is that of centre-back, with star man Pascal Struijk set to be sidelined due to a hamstring injury.
Patrick Bamford is also in a similar situation, with the Englishman not being seen in the Whites’ matchday squad since New Year’s Day, leaving Mateo Joseph and Joel Piroe to once again fight it out for the starting number nine spot.
Brenden Aaronson was also forced off the pitch against Sheffield Wednesday in the last 10 minutes or so of the game, so the US international is yet another Leeds player who is unlikely to start.
Predicted lineups for Leeds United and Norwich City
Leeds United: Meslier, Bogle, Rodon, Ampadu, Byram, Tanaka, Gruev, James, Ramazani, Solomon, Piroe.
Norwich City: Gunn, Stacey, Duffy, Doyle, Mahovo, Fisher, McLean, Marcondes, Hernandez, Dobbin, Sargent.
Where to watch?
The game on 22 January is set to kick off at 19:45pm, with the clash being shown on both the Sky Sports+ app and Sky Sports+.
Alternatively, fans could tune into commentary on BBC Radio Leeds if that’s your preferred method.
Prediction: Leeds United 2 – 1 Norwich City
Although a 2-1 win might not be as convincing of a scoreline as some fans would like it to be, it feels like a fair judgement with the attacking form of both sides.
The two Championship teams are among the highest scorers in the league so both Farke and Thorup’s men are likely to score.
However, due to the Welsh wall of Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu being back in business, it feels like the Whites could have too much defensive quality for the Canaries to break through more than once.
Victory on Wednesday would help further cement the Whites’ place at the top of the table, and would prove to the league that Farke and his men are gunning for automatic promotion to the top flight.
In other Leeds news, a BBC pundit was left wowed by a moment from a Whites player in their victory against Sheffield Wednesday.
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