Match Preview - Leeds United v Leicester City

Monday Night Football takes us to West Yorkshire, and Elland Road as Premier League new boys Leeds United host Leicester City in the last of the weekend’s fixtures. A win for Leeds will boost them into a Champions League spot on goal difference, whilst The Foxes will be eyeing up second place, should they make the trip back to the Midlands with all 3 points.

Two master tacticians come face to face as Marcelo Bielsa takes on Brendan Rodgers, in a game that will surely be worth the wait, with both sides looking to improve on brilliant starts to the new season. A mouthwatering fixture for anyone that enjoys a tactical battle between two of the league’s great managers. Leeds go into Monday’s fixture on the back of an outstanding 3–0 victory over Aston Villa, with Patrick Bamford grabbing all three goals. Leicester will be looking for another convincing win after they got the better of Arsenal last Monday.

Team News

Marcelo Bielsa’s pre match press conference bought mostly positive news in terms of injury updates; with club captain Liam Cooper available for selection after recovering from a groin injury. The Scottish international is expected to come straight back into the side alongside Robin Koch, with Ayling moving out to right-back, and Dallas moving either across to the left, or into midfield.

Diego Llorente has suffered another setback since joining Leeds from Real Sociedad in September and is yet to feature for The Whites. Kalvin Phillips remains sidelined for the foreseeable future whilst recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in their 1–0 loss to Wolves.

Who replaces Phillips in the middle has been cause of much debate, with Pascal Struijk — the obvious stand-in — having a tough 21 minutes against Aston Villa before being subbed off on a yellow card, and being replaced by Jamie Shackleton who shone on his Premier League debut. An alternative option would be to push utility man Stuart Dallas into midfield, and fielding Gjanni Alioski at left-back, on the back of a solid performance last Friday.

Leicester City’s injury updates were considerably less positive. An already hard-hit defensive unit lost two more first-team players as Rodgers revealed that Jonny Evans is doubtful as he is struggling with a back problem, and summer signing Timothy Castagne is expected to be sidelined until after the international break with a hamstring issue. They have been added to the long list of absentees that include Caglar Soyuncu, Wilfred Ndidi, Daniel Amartey and Ricardo Pereira.

Marc Albrighton is expected to fill in at left wing-back, whilst Evans will be assessed closer to the game.

Foxes talisman Jamie Vardy has been nursing a minor calf issue recently but came off the bench to score the winner at Arsenal last weekend, before notching up 70 minutes in the midweek Europa League victory against AEK Athens. He is expected to start up top alongside Harvey Barnes and James Maddison.

Tactical Preview

The plaudits (rightly so) went mainly to Patrick, or should I say Hat-trick Bamford last Friday, after a stunning second-half performance saw the Leeds striker bag three goals, including two unbelievable finishes against the Villa. What will have pleased Marcelo Bielsa more, however, was the versatility of his core defensive unit, who (except Robin Koch) all played in different positions compared to their 1–0 loss to Wolves the previous week. With a right-back at centre-back, and two international wingers at full-back, The Whites kept Villa’s main men quiet for almost the entire 90, barring a couple of chances for Jack Grealish.

Another outstanding performance on Friday came from Jack Harrison. The Manchester City loanee is in his 3rd season at Elland Road and is improving with each and every game, recording the most key passes in Europe’s top 5 divisions so far this season:

Harrison and his opposite sided teammate Helder Costa will be hoping for similar success come Monday evening, with the flanks likely to play a major role in the game for both sides.

Brendan Rodgers has tinkered ever so slightly with Leicester’s playing style this season. The sale of Ben Chilwell to Chelsea, coupled with an unfortunate long-term injury for Ricardo Pereira has lead to regular first-team minutes for Timothy Castagne and James Justin. Whilst his predecessor at left-back placed emphasis on progression and creation of chances — with a chance creation rate of 1.3 per 90 minutes — Justin places focus more on well-timed off the ball runs, adding to the attacking threat at the back-post. Castagne’s injury means the likelihood is that Mark Albrighton will replace him at left wing-back, with an attacking mindset and ability to make positive back post runs. Something for Ayling and Alioski to keep an eye out for.

Leicester’s biggest tactical shift, however, is their acceptance of a loss in overall possession, with a conscious effort to dial down their pressing and wait for their moment to pounce. This season, the Foxes are allowing the opposition to complete an average of 14.4 passes before making a tackle, compared to last seasons figure of just 9.6; going from 1st in the league of PPDA (passes allowed per defensive actions) to 13th. This is where they are likely to cause Leeds problems. Having spent the last two seasons under Bielsa struggling to break down teams that sit deep, the 1–0 home defeat to Wolves and their deep block reignited their long forgotten Championship worries. Furthermore, as a result of territorial dominance, the Leeds back line has to push high up the pitch, leaving plenty of space in behind for the rapid Jamie Vardy. This is a game that will suit the Leicester forward to a T, and they will be hoping to exploit this opportunity to maximum effect on Monday.

The final game of the Premier League weekend, and one that is hard to predict. Leeds will come flying out the blocks from minute one, and play with the fearless style that we have all had the pleasure of watching so far. The Foxes will look to their experienced players to manage the game and ride the Leeds intensity, before looking to their main man Vardy to grab a goal.

Likely Leeds team: Meslier; Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Alioski; Costa, Dallas, Klich, Rodrigo, Harrison; Bamford.

Likely Leicester team: Schmeichel; Fofana, Evans, Fuchs; Albrighton, Tielemans, Mendy, Justin; Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.

Kyle’s prediction: Monday’s game will be a tight one, but ultimately one where Leicester go home the happier of the two sides. Leeds will likely have the lion’s share of the ball and the territory. But it will be Leicester, and more specifically, Jamie Vardy, that will get the major chances, and you’d back him to put them away. I’m going 2–1; Vardy brace.

By Kyle Newbould

Read more from Kyle - https://kylenewbould.medium.com/

[23 Year Old Kyle Newbould is one of the best up and coming football journalists and we’ve managed to snap him up before any of the big tabloids do! This will not affect the TIPS in any way, shape, or form. Simply an excellent addition for us all, giving us that extra focus on the big games when I’m sometimes caught up in the Lower Leagues around the world!]