Leeds United will entertain Barnsley at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon looking to bounce back from their narrow 1-0 league defeat at the hands of Aston Villa in the last gameweek. The Peacocks are currently in the 14th position in the Skybet Championship rankings and could climb two places with a win today. Meanwhile, their opponents are in deep trouble of being demoted to the League One this season. The Tykes are just two points away from safety so a win at West Yorkshire could go a long way in helping them avoid the drop at the end of this campaign.
The recent history of this fixture makes a grim reading for the away side as they have just won once in their past five encounters with the Peacocks. Paul Heckingbottom is expected to opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and will be sweating on the fitness of Pontus Jannson. Samuel Saiz could be in line to make a return to the starting eleven after being benched for their clash against the Villans last weekend.
4-2-3-1 Leeds United Predicted Lineup To Face Barnsley
Defence
Bailey Peacock-Farrell should start in goal for the Peacocks and will be guarded by a back four consisting of Pontus Jansson and Paudie O’Connor in central defence while Tom Pearce operates as the left-back and Stuart Dallas might start on the right side of the backline. Jannson will be in a race against time to be fit for this contest so if he doesn’t pass the fitness test, it is expected that Matthew Pennington will take his place in the starting eleven.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side has not kept a single clean sheet in any of their last nine matches in the league so they will look to improve on their recent defensive record when they clash heads with the Barnsley attackers on Saturday.
Midfield
The midfield pair of Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira could be unleashed at the centre of the park as the holding midfielders while the trio of Pablo Hernandez, Samuel Saiz Alonso and Ergjan Alioski will play ahead of them while looking to cause some damage in the opposition half.
Attack
Kemar Roofe is expected to lead the lines for the West Yorkshire side up top. He found the back of the net versus Preston North End, a few weeks back, which should give him some confidence to get his name on the scoresheet once again in this gameweek.
