3rd place Leeds United host 20th placed Reading at Elland Road on Tuesday Night as the English League Championship enters week 19. The home side continue their quest for promotion to the top flight of English football as they seek to keep the teams above them in sight when Paul Clement’s side come visiting.
The West-Yorkshire club under the leadership of Marcelo Bielsa made a very strong start to the campaign but have managed only 3 wins in the last 7 games. Leeds are a strong team in front of their home fans having lost only once, drawn 3 and won 5 at home this season. They went into the international break on the back of a 4-1 defeat to fellow promotion chasers West Brom, but quickly snapped out of the loss with a 2-0 win over 14th place Bristol City to keep the pressure on Norwich and Middlesborough. The sending off of Bristol’s Josh Brownhill in the 55th minute allowed Leeds to take full control of a game that was neither here nor there and for Kemar Roofe and Pablo Hernandez to score the goals to secure them the win.
Leeds have scored at least one goal in the last 12 matches as well as in the last 6 home matches. Forward Kemar Roofe leads the Leeds goal chart with 8 goals, Klich is on 5 goals while Alioski and Roberts have 3 goals apiece.
Reading are on a 3 match unbeaten run in the Championship. They followed their 3-2 home win over Bristol City and the 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town with a 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic on Saturday. That run of games has lifted Paul Clement’s side above the relegation zone (via goal difference) to sit 20th with 17 points from 18 games played.
Paul Clement's side have goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola to thank for keeping them in the game on Saturday. The Finnish goalkeeper made some fantastic saves to ensure Reading didn’t pay for their lackluster showing. The Royals didn’t register a shot on target until the hour mark and would have been happy with the draw under the circumstances. Reading are trying to steady their ship having taken 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in their last 6 games in the league. While their attack isn’t the worst, their defence is making life difficult to stay above relegation waters having conceded 9 goals in the last 6 games.
Paul Clement’s men are a poor travelling team as they have failed to score in their last 2 away matches and have not won in 5 games on the road. Their away record all season stands at 1-4-4.
Team News
Mo Barrow and Sam Baldock are ruled out for Wigan while Leandro Bacuna and Andy Yiadom are fatigued. Youngsters Conor Lawless and Danny Loader have travelled with the squad and may feature.
Pontus Jansson has been ruled out for Leeds while Bailey Peacock-Farell could yet start. Finnish defender Aapo Halme who was handed a debut against Bristol City may also be in from the start again after doing his chances of more playing time no harm on Saturday.
Verdict
Reading missed out on promotion to the Premier League on penalties to Huddersfield in 2017 but are now a shadow of that side. The Royals are a poor side away from home while Marcelo Bielsa’s team have not lost in the last 4 home games and are the better side. This should be a fairly straightforward victory for Leeds United
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