Garry Monk started his reign at Elland Road in a drab manner but things are looking much brighter for the Whites now. Monk’s side have won five of their last six games and will be confident when they travel to Pride Park on Saturday to take on struggling Derby County.
Derby County welcomed back Steve McClaren as their new manager yesterday, who replaced Nigel Pearson, and the Rams desperately hope to start life under their new boss on a winning note.
Derby have been a formidable force in the Championship for a long time now. Even though they are in poor form now, the Rams have a strong team that can easily trouble the Yorkshire-based side. Garry Monk has to be careful while taking on Derby County this Saturday as overconfidence could prove to be deadly for them.
Leeds are likely to stick to their favoured 4-2-3-1 formation which has been fruitful for them. Here is the predicted Leeds United lineup against Derby County.
Defence
Veteran stopper Robert Green will line up between the sticks for the Whites. We expect Monk to stick to the centre-back pairing of Kyle Bartley and Pontus Jansson who have done really well.
Liam Cooper has to sit out and wait for his chance as of now. Luke Ayling is likely to start in the right-back position. Charlie Taylor will keep his place in the left-back position. Leeds have done really well defensively lately and Monk will want his defenders to keep up the good work.
Midfield
Kalvin Phillips is having his best spell as a first-team player at Leeds United and with Liam Bridcutt injured, the 20-year-old is starting to look like a credible option in the centre of midfield. Monk is likely to give the youngster another chance in the middle of the park. Former Bournemouth midfielder Eunan O’Kane has done a brilliant job in midfield since joining the Whites. The 26-year-old should keep his place in the middle of the park.
Pablo Hernandez should keep his place as the number ten. Youngster Hadi Sacko will keep his place on the right flank. Stuart Dallas should keep his place on the left. The trio has been excellent with their creativity in the last few games.
Attack
Chris Wood has been impressive this season in front of the goals scoring five times from 11 games. The Kiwi international will keep his place up front and Monk will want him to fire once again.
