Burton Albion vs Leeds United. Sky Bet Championship.
Pirelli StadiumAttendance5,612.
Tuesday 26 December 2017 09:10, UK
After selecting an unchanged side on Saturday, Burton boss Nigel Clough could make some changes for the visit of Leeds.
Clough has plenty of options with club record signing Liam Boyce (knee) and on-loan Wolves striker Joe Mason (inflamed appendix) the only players unavailable. The likes of Stephen Warnock, Kyle McFadzean, Matt Palmer, Hope Akpan and Sean Scannell could come into Clough's plans as he looks to mastermind a third straight Sky Bet Championship victory.
Clough went with a 5-4-1 formation at Reading on Saturday and it will be interesting to see if he sticks with that system or reverts back to the 4-2-3-1 line-up used in recent weeks.
Leeds will hope to have playmaker Samu Saiz fit for the trip. The Spanish midfielder missed the weekend win over Hull with a calf problem and it remains to be seen if he will be involved.
Replacement Pablo Hernandez scored the winner against Hull and will hope to feature once again. Pierre-Michel Lasogga returned from a month out off the bench and could play a part, but Stuart Dallas is missing.
Burton's only previous home match against Leeds was their 2-1 win over the Whites in the Championship last season.
Leeds won 5-0 against Burton in September at Elland Road, their biggest league win since November 2004 (6-1 against QPR).
Nigel Clough's only previous Football League win on Boxing Day was against Leeds in 2011 as Derby boss - he's lost four and drawn one of his other five matches.
Leeds have won only two of their last 10 league games on Boxing Day (D4 L4). However, the Whites won their most recent Boxing Day clash last year against Preston (4-1) - the first time they'd netted four in a game on this date since 1990 vs Chelsea (4-1).
What a week it has been for Burton. Two fantastic wins at Bolton and Reading have lifted them all the way out of the relegation zone at a time where they looked to be in real trouble and in danger of slipping away.
They're up against a Leeds side who are feeling good again, though, and are back in the play-offs after a decent run. This will be a tight game, but I think Thomas Christiansen's side will nick the win.
David Prutton predicts: 0-1 with Kemar Roofe to score first (22/1 with Sky Bet)
