Wilfried Zaha and Vicente Guaita ruled out of Leeds United clash v Crystal Palace
Leeds United have been handed a major double boost for their clash with Crystal Palace after Wilfried Zaha and Vicente Guaita were ruled out through injury.
The Whites claimed a win over Nottingham Forest in midweek to move out of the relegation zone again, and now face fellow relegation rivals Palace at Elland Road to keep their momentum up.
And now they’ve been handed a major boost with news that key man Zaha won’t be available following a groin injury, while first-choice goalkeeper Guaita has also suffered a setback in his recovery from injury and will miss the game too.
“Vicente Guaita (calf) and Wilfried Zaha (groin) will not play against Leeds, says Roy Hodgson,” journalist Matt Woosnam wrote on his personal Twitter account (7 April).
“Chris Richards and Nathan Ferguson also still out but not far from being back.”
Positive
Crystal Palace have been in freefall recently until Hodgson came into the club and got them a win over Fulham in his first game back.
But with no Zaha and their first-choice goalkeeper being out, Leeds will not have a better opportunity to claim victory and really move away from the pack at the bottom of the table.
With the amount of attacking quality that Javi Gracia has available to him with the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, Patrick Bamford, Rodrigo, Crysencio Summerville, Jack Harrison, Luis Sinisterra and Brenden Aaronson, they should be able to score goals.
There is plenty of pace there too, and defensively the team has looked stronger since he came into the club and made them more organised.
Palace will put up a fight and make it difficult for sure, but the fans will be right behind the team at Elland Road and a win would be absolutely huge in the fight against relegation.
In other Leeds news, Mark Lawrenson has predicted the result of the clash against Crystal Palace.