Preview: Leeds United vs Southampton

Preview: Leeds United vs Southampton

We look at Tuesday night's Premier League fixture.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United side face Southampton at Elland Road on Tuesday evening (6pm), which will be the 25th match of the 38-game campaign for either side. 

This is the first meeting between the two clubs this season, following the postponement of the first clash due to the visitors’ FA Cup tie with Shrewsbury Town, a competition that they are still in at the quarter-final stage.

Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side were part of the group looking to crash the European places for the first half of the season, flying high towards the top of the table. However, with just one win from their last 12 matches, his side have dropped down into mid-table. 

Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea ended a six-game losing run in the league for the Saints. The goalscorer - which came during the first half - was Japanese international Takumi Minamino, a January loan-signing from Liverpool. The attacker has scored twice since his arrival. 

Elsewhere in what is a talented and experience forward line for the South Coast outfit, Nathan Redmond, Danny Ings, Che Adams and Theo Walcott have all caused problems for the opposition in the campaign thus far, but the latter of that quartet is expected to miss the match through injury. 

Former Leeds loanee goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is currently the number one choice between the posts. He’s behind a defensive pairing of Danish international Jannik Vestergaard and Polish international Jan Bednarek, a national teammate of Mateusz Klich. 

It has been a staggering 15 matches since the Whites drew a match in the Premier League, which was a 0-0 tie with Arsenal at Elland Road. Last time out on home turf, Leeds put in an impressive display, winning 2-0 against Crystal Palace.

The Saints have not managed an away win in their last five - which was a late victory over fellow South Coast outfit, Brighton & Hove Albion courtesy of a Danny Ings penalty.

A win for Leeds would see them jump up two positions in the table, retaking a place in the top 10 of the division above both Wolves and Arsenal.

Southampton - with a victory - would move above Crystal Palace and the Whites into 12th place, and a convincing win would also take them above Wolves on goal-difference. 

 

Manager/head coach

Leeds: Marcelo Bielsa

Southampton: Ralph Hassenhuttl

 

League position 

Leeds: 12th

Southampton: 14th

 

Premier League form

Leeds: WLWLL

Southampton: LLLLD

 

Premier League top scorer

Leeds: Patrick Bamford (12)

Southampton: Danny Ings (8)

 

Head to head 

Leeds: 45

Draws: 20

Southampton: 27

 

Last time at Elland Road

Tuesday 30th October, 2012.

League Cup

Leeds 3 (Tonge 35’, Diouf 88’, Becchio 90’ pen)

Southampton 0 

 

Team news 

Kalvin Phillips, Rodrigo & Ian Poveda will all still be missing for Leeds United on Tuesday night when the Saints visit Elland Road. Diego Llorente returned from injury against Wolves, taking a place on the bench. Robin Koch is making progress but still remains out, with a similar story for Gaetano Berardi. 

Theo Walcott and Kyle Walker-Peters are the most notable absentees for Southampton, whereas Stuart Armstrong is expected to return to the side after missing the draw with Chelsea last time out. 

 

Officials 

Referee - Andre Marriner

Assistant Referee 1 - Scott Ledger

Assistant Referee 2 - Adrian Holmes

Fourth Official - Robert Jones

Video Assistant Referee - Kevin Friend

 

The key battle 

Patrick Bamford vs Danny Ings

A battle between two of England’s leading Premier League strikers in the goal-scoring charts. Bamford has notched an impressive 12 on Leeds’ return to Premier League football, whereas opposition hot-shot Ings is on eight.

Both players will be attempting to increase that tally on Tuesday evening and in what is expected to be a match with an attacking emphasis, it’s a 90 minutes that both teams defenders will be kept busy throughout. 

 

Latest odds

Leeds: 5/4

Draw: 13/5

Southampton: 2/1

 

How to watch

The game will be broadcast on Sky Sports, with live commentary on LUTV. 

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