MY ACCOUNT
Leeds and Everton, seen by many as relegation candidates before the season started, meet at Elland Road in a match both will regard as one they should be winning.
Leeds were unbeaten in their first three games only to come unstuck at Brighton on Saturday, while Everton managed to hang on for a 1-1 draw at Brentford.
Team news
Skipper Liam Cooper and striker Patrick Bamford are inching their way back to fitness but may not make Jesse Marsch’s side. Leeds are still without Junior Firpo, Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling.
Mason Holgate becomes Everton’s third centre-back out of commission following injuries to Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina. Michael Keane can expect to start in Frank Lampard’s back three.
Abdoulaye Doucoure, Andre Gomes, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Andros Townsend are still out, with Lampard mulling over whether or not to hand new signing Neal Maupay his first start.
The stats
Leeds’ 1-0 loss at Brighton on Saturday was just their fourth league defeat in their last 14 matches.
Jesse Marsch’s men have managed to keep only one clean sheet in their last 14 home Premier League matches though that was the most recent fixture, a 3-0 success over Chelsea.
Everton are yet to win this season – two draws, two losses in four – and need to start improving a truly wretched away record. Since a 2-0 win at Brighton 12 months ago, the Toffees have accrued seven points out of a possible 57 on their travels.
Prediction
Nothing seems to be changing for Everton from last season, though that does not mean they should be written off at Elland Road.
A shortage of goals and poor away form conspired to leave the Toffees flirting with the relegation zone last season, and they find themselves back in the bottom three again.
They cannot get first-choice striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin fit, but they are creating chances which, with a newly-arrived striker in the shape of Neal Maupay on their books, things could start to look up.
They have also shown signs of resilience, as they were not disgraced in a 1-0 home loss to Chelsea and were gutsy and a little unlucky fighting back from two down to lose 2-1 at Villa. The other two games, against Nottingham Forest and Brentford, ended in draws, and a third successive stalemate is on the cards here.
Leeds are not the same swaggering adventurers they were under Marcelo Bielsa, Jesse Marsch having introduced a more all-round mindset which means they are not conceding in quite the same freakish levels they were under the American’s predecessor.
And, with seven points on the board, they are going well. It is too early to say they are defying the pundits who predicted relegation, but they will be upbeat despite Saturday’s reverse at Brighton.
This will be about Leeds trying to bang down Lampard’s organised defence, and it would be no surprise if this is not both a low-scorer and a draw.
