Leeds United head coach Paul Heckingbottom will come up against his former club on Saturday when Yorkshire rivals Barnsley visit Elland Road.  Heckingbottom left the Tykes, who he also played for earlier in his career, in February to become head coach of the Whites.  Jose Morais took over the reins from Heckingbottom at Oakwell, with the aim of keeping Barnsley in the Sky Bet Championship.  The Reds currently find themselves in the relegation zone, but do have a crucial game in hand over the teams at the bottom.  Goals from Samuel Saiz and Ezgjan Alioski (above) secured Leeds a 2-0 victory at Oakwell earlier in the season and the Whites will be hoping for a similar result on Saturday.

League position

Leeds United: 14th

Barnsley: 22nd

Recent form

Leeds United: WLDLL

Barnsley: LDWLD

Head to head

Leeds United wins: 24

Draws: 17

Barnsley wins: 20

Last time Elland Road

Sky Bet Championship

Saturday 1^st October 2016

Leeds United 2 (Bartley 36, Hernandez 54)

Barnsley 1 (Winnall 70)

Leeds: Green, Ayling, Bartley, Jansson, Taylor, Phillips, O’Kane, Hernandez (Roofe 84), Dallas (Vieira 89), Sacko (Antonsson 75), Wood. Subs not used: Silvestri, Coyle, Cooper, Mowatt.

Barnsley: Davies, Roberts, MacDonald, Scowen, Kpekawa, Kent (Bradshaw 82), Hourihane, Yiadom, Hammill, Armstrong (Watkins 65). Subs not used: Townsend, White, Jackson, Morsy, Lee.

Attendance: 27,350 (2,413 Barnsley) 

Goals either side of half-time from Kyle Bartley and Pablo Hernandez were enough for Leeds to claim a 2-1 Yorkshire derby victory in our last match at Elland Road against Barnsley.  Bartley turned home a near-post corner from Hernandez to open the scoring after 36 minutes, before United’s on-loan Spaniard got in on the act to double the advantage with a cool finish shortly after the restart.  Sam Winnall pulled one back from close-range for the visitors to set up a somewhat nervy finale, but United were good value for the three points.

Team news

Leeds United continue to struggle with a long list of injuries and suspensions.  Pontus Jansson could be in contention to return for the Whites following concussion, but the game is likely to come too soon for the likes of Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Laurens De Bock, Adam Forshaw, Tyler Roberts and Conor Shaughnessy.  Gaetano Berardi is banned for the remaining games of the campaign.  George Moncur returned for Barnsley's 2-2 draw against Bolton Wanderers and the Tykes could welcome back Matt Mills for Saturday's derby.   Adam Jackson had to be withdrawn at half time of the Bolton match and is doubtful.

The key battle

Matthew Pennington v Oliver McBurnie

One of Heckingbottom's last acts as Barnsley boss was to secure the loan signing of striker McBurnie from Swansea City and his has proved to be a great acquisition for the Tykes.  He has netted eight goals in 13 games since arriving at Oakwell and will be looking to extend that tally against the Whites.  Defender Pennington returned from injury against Aston Villa, playing 90 minutes and he will be looking to keep McBurnie quiet at Elland Road on Saturday.

Betting odds with Ladbrokes

Leeds United: 8/5

Draw: 23/10

Barnsley: 33/20

(Odds correct at time of article published)

Click here to bet now.

Fan zones

Join us ahead of kick-off at Elland Road, in the Foster’s Fan Zone situated at the North East Corner and the Fan Village within the Gowing Law Centenary Pavilion.  Click here for more information and offers.

LUTV

Fans outside of the UK and Ireland can watch Saturday's game with Barnsley live on LUTV, with pre-match build up and post match interviews and analysis.  Fans in the UK and Ireland can listen to live commentary with Thom Kirwin and Eddie Gray on LUTV.  Build up will begin from 2:00pm. Click here to subscribe now.

Tickets

There are still tickets available for Saturday’s clash with Barnsley.

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