Leeds United welcome Aston Villa to Elland Road in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
Jesse Marsch’s side hasn’t played Premier League football for a month after various postponements in September, giving Leeds a game in hand on 14 top flight sides. Villa are one of those clubs but still trail their hosts despite earning a narrow – and tortuous – victory over Southampton last time out.
Here’s everything you need to know about the meeting between this pair.
Where can you watch Leeds vs Aston Villa Highlights?
Leeds vs Aston Villa H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Leeds:Â 1 Win
Aston Villa:Â 2 Wins
Draws:Â 2
Current Form (Last Five Games)
Leeds:Â WWLDL
Aston Villa:Â WLLDW
Leeds team news
The yawning chasm between competitive outings for Leeds has given them a condensed calendar ahead of the World Cup but also afforded most of their squad time to recover from injury.
Aside from the long-term absentee Stuart Dallas, top scorer Rodrigo is the only senior player with doubt lingering over their involvement as he recovers from a shoulder injury.
Leeds Starting 11 (4-2-3-1):Â Meslier; Kristensen, Koch, Llorente, Struijk; Adams, Roca; Sinisterra, Aaronson, Harrison; Bamford.
Bench:Â Klaesson, Ayling, Forshaw, Cooper, Gelhardt, Summerville, Firpo, Klich, Greenwood.
Aston Villa team news
Defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara was forced off against Southampton with knee ligament damage. The France international is unlikely to feature for the rest of the calendar year, quashing his hopes of going to the World Cup. Diego Carlos (Achilles) is another long-term absentee.
Lucas Digne also failed to join up with Les Bleus over the club hiatus with an ankle problem. The damage done to Digne’s joint isn’t thought to be as severe as first feared but Steven Gerrard won’t be able to call upon the full-back until mid-October.
Matty Cash was scheduled to return from a hamstring problem after the international break but may not be risked from the start after a month on the sidelines.
Aston Villa Starting 11 (4-3-2-1):Â Martinez; Konsa, Chambers, Mings, Young; Ramsey, Luiz, McGinn; Bailey, Coutinho; Watkins.
Bench:Â Olsen, Bednarek, Sanson, Ings, Buendia, Cash, Augustinsson, Nakamba, Dendoncker.
Stylistically, this is a meeting between one of the Premier League’s most direct sides in possession and one of its most considered – some might say ponderous – teams on the ball. Leeds strive and thrive in chaos while Villa seek to limit the thrills and subsequent spills under Gerrard.
Both teams are short of their lofty ambitions for the season with these contrasting approaches and the pair may fail to find a victory to kickstart the final push before the World Cup.
Prediction: Leeds 1-1 Aston Villa
