MOT View: Prutton praise for Reading ace ‘tipped for big things’ shows who Leeds must watch
David Prutton predicted on Thursday that Leeds United would beat Reading 1-0 in the upcoming clash, pointing out George Puskas as a dangerman for the Royals.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side welcome Reading to Elland Road on Saturday on the back of the commanding victory over Bristol City and looking to earn consecutive victories for the first time since the beginning of December.
Most of the build-up to the game has been taken over by complaints on the prices of tickets, with everyone from Mark Bowen to local journalists reacting.
Prutton heaped praise on Reading’s recent win at Hillsborough, pointing out the positive impact the performance could have had on Puskas after he scored in Yorkshire.
“Reading got a superb win last week against Sheffield Wednesday and it was good to see George Puscas back among the goals,” he wrote on his Sky Sports prediction blog.
“He was tipped for big things when he signed but has not quite hit the heights so far. I think Leeds will sneak another home win.”
It was a deflected goal full of luck for the Romanian, his second goal in his last couple of outings after not scoring for seven games previously.
The 23-year-old came with big hype surrounding his name at the Madejski Stadium but hasn’t been able to offer the consistency that he threatened at the beginning of the season.
Puscas may average two shots on goal per game according to WhoScored, but he does little else to support his team in the final third. He only averages 0.3 key passes as well as 0.4 dribbles – stats that are nowhere near good enough.
Compare that to Patrick Bamford and the 26-year-old completes double the number of key passes and 1.5 more shots per game.
Prutton may have pointed out Puscas as the dangerman, so Leeds should keep a close eye on the forward but they should have easily enough resources in defence to keep him quiet.
In other Leeds United news, Jeff Stelling and Matt Le Tissier have predicted the scoreline in the upcoming clash at Elland Road