Championship news: Leeds Utd vs Sunderland – Five key battles and score prediction
Monday night Championship action sees table-topping Leeds United welcome fourth-placed Sunderland to Elland Road for a massive clash.
A howler from goalkeeper Illan Meslier – one of many this season, sadly – gifted Sunderland a point in the reverse fixture at the Stadium of Light back in October, so Leeds will be hoping to banish some demons this time around.
Daniel Farke’s impressive Whites now find themselves in the driving seat for automatic promotion to the Premier League, with the plucky Black Cats on track for a spot in the promotion play-offs.
Sports News Blitz football writer Samuel Leasley considers five key battles to anticipate and offers a score prediction.
Daniel Farke vs Regis Le Bris
Farke’s decision to rotate heavily for the FA Cup last weekend proved a shrewd move as his well-rested regulars dismantled Watford 4-0 in midweek.
Leeds had looked shapeless and off the pace against Millwall, with the German resting almost his entire starting line-up, but they nevertheless made it through to the fifth round.
The Whites’ fine league form then continued when the returns of Manor Solomon, Dan James, and Joel Piroe contributed to a clinical performance at Vicarage Road.
Tuesday’s win was a sixth consecutive clean sheet for the league leaders, a run of great defensive form that has also seen a rampant 18 goals scored.
Regis Le Bris, on the other hand, will have been pleased to see his Sunderland side bounce back from a poor home draw with Watford by comfortably dispatching Luton Town, but the Frenchman is sure to be disappointed at the continued attacking profligacy.
Starlet Enzo Le Fee netted his first goal for the Black Cats in that win over Luton, the new signing having adapted to life in the Championship with aplomb in a pleasing development for Le Bris.
After dropping precious points against both Plymouth Argyle and Watford in recent weeks, though, Le Bris is likely to be eyeing a positive result at Elland Road to stay in the mix at the top of the table.
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Joe Rodon vs Wilson Isidor
One man who has been particularly influential in Leeds’ strong defensive performances over the past few weeks is Joe Rodon.
The Welshman has been an ever-present for the Whites this season and continues to provide both stability and confidence no matter his defensive partner.
Rodon has made 17 successful tackles and 20 interceptions from the centre of the Leeds defence in addition to racking up a passing accuracy of 93%, the highest percentage in the squad.
Up against Rodon on Monday is Wilson Isidor, a man in fine attacking form.
Isidor has provided four goal contributions – three goals and one assist – in his last four Championship fixtures.
The Frenchman sits clear atop the Sunderland goal-scoring charts with 11 goals, a whopping seven higher than second-placed Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham.
Following the horror of his two penalty misses against Burnley, Isidor has bounced back strongly and will look to use his pace on the counter-attack against Leeds on Monday.
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Dan James vs Dennis Cirkin
A player who appears to have hit a purple patch of form at the right time is Welsh winger James, who set Leeds on their way against Watford with a brace.
Those two goals took his goal tally to double figures for the campaign, with the winger trailing only Piroe in that regard for the Whites.
James has formed a strong partnership with Solomon of late, confining the talented Largie Ramazani and Wilfried Gnonto to the bench in the process.
Should Sunderland attempt to restrict space at Elland Road, they may look to double-mark the dangerous James and prevent his capitalising on space behind the defence.
Dennis Cirkin is likely to be someone entrusted with keeping James quiet come Monday.
The left-back preserved the Black Cats’ unbeaten home record this season with a late goal against Watford before helping the club to an 11th clean sheet against Luton.
He is one of the first names on the team sheet when fit, boasting the highest number of interceptions in the squad with 40 alongside the second-highest number of successful tackles at 38.
One area where Cirkin can be exploited is his discipline as the former Tottenham man has conceded the most fouls for Sunderland with 37.
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Brenden Aaronson vs Jobe Bellingham
American international Aaronson has showcased an increased level of performance in recent weeks.
He got Leeds on their way in the demolition of Cardiff by scoring the opening goal and, despite appearing to be in the shadow of other wingers, has been integral to Leeds’ high level of pressing.
Aaronson is moreover a regular target for opposition defenders, winning 48 fouls this campaign.
Most of his eight goals have been from close range and, should Sunderland be occupied out wide by James and Solomon, Aaronson may find himself in some useful space.
In contrast, while operating in a deeper role to that of his Champions League–winning brother, Jobe Bellingham has proven himself a capable deep-lying playmaker for the Black Cats.
Bellingham has 32 successful tackles and 18 interceptions to his name so far and has also chipped in with four goals and three assists, although he has not contributed in that vein since a victory over Norwich in December.
Discipline has been a concern for Bellingham, however, with the Englishman accumulating eight yellow cards plus a red across 28 appearances.
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Ao Tanaka vs Enzo Le Fee
Someone who continues to offer incredible talent and value to the Leeds system is Japanese international Ao Tanaka.
While his regular partner Joe Rothwell has seemingly lost his starting place in favour of Ilja Gruev, Tanaka looks irreplaceable in defensive midfield.
Tanaka has made the most interceptions of any Leeds player with 33 alongside making the second-most successful tackles with 40.
In addition, regular refereeing action appears to occur around Tanaka’s area of the pitch, with the midfielder committing 36 fouls and winning 38.
On the opposite end of the scale to the modest Tanaka, Frenchman Enzo Le Fee seems to be the current darling of the Championship media.
The creative midfielder signed on loan from Roma in the January transfer window and has since made two goal contributions in six appearances.
He got a valuable assist in the club’s dramatic victory away at Middlesbrough before notching his first goal in the victory over Luton.
Drifting in from the left-hand flank, Le Fee is regularly involved in the action and will have to be on the ball against Leeds on Monday.
Summary
Both sides will be keen on a positive result in order to continue their respective promotion pushes.
However, this current Leeds outfit looks incredibly organised and is clearly very confident.
As a result, I feel the hosts should have enough to best a Sunderland team that has conceded two goals in three of their last four games.
Score prediction: Leeds Utd 2-1 Sunderland
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