Max Wober to sit out as Leeds United v Crystal Palace team news predicted by Phil Hay
Phil Hay has suggested that Leeds United will be without defender Max Wober for the match against Crystal Palace on Sunday (9 April).
Javi Gracia’s men host Roy Hodgson’s side at Elland Road with both clubs aiming to push further away from the relegation zone.
But the Whites look set to be without the injured Wober for the third successive match, with the Eagles missing Wilfried Zaha, also through injury.
“They’re all big games now (cliche alert) but this is another one for Leeds United, at home to Crystal Palace,” Hay wrote for The Athletic. “The club could go past 30 points today and if they manage to do that, people might start to see the finishing line in sight. It’s 10 from six matches for Javi Gracia so far.
“The chances are there won’t be big changes today. Gracia said he expected to have the same group of players available, implying that there will be no Max Wober again, and he’ll want to take the game to Palace, just as he did Forest.
“Palace got a very important win over Leicester in Roy Hodgson’s first match as their interim boss and they’ll see this as an opportunity too – but they will be missing Zaha through injury.”
Big miss
Wober has been a standout performer at the back for Leeds since his January arrival from Red Ball Salzburg, with fans fully aware of just how important he is to their survival this season.
He has featured regularly since the move, but is now expected to watch on from the sidelines once again for the visit of Palace, having missed out against both Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Gracia and all connected with Leeds will be hopeful that Wober can recover from the hamstring issue as soon as possible, with crucial matches coming up thick and fast.
But with every cloud comes a silver lining, and that is the fact that Palace look set to be without star man Zaha, who would definitely have caused the Leeds defence major problems, with our without Wober playing.
Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk conceded five goals in the two matches that Wober missed, with the Whites certainly looking more stable at the back when the Austrian is on the pitch.
In other Leeds United news, Gary Rowett believes Leeds United youngster Charlie Cresswell’s season may be over amid a “strange” injury update at Millwall.