Leeds United vs Preston North End; Sky Bet Championship
Leeds United vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
Elland RoadAttendance35,638.
Leeds vs Preston preview: Championship clash live on Sky Sports Football
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 5pm on Boxing Day; kick-off is at 5.15pm
Tuesday 24 December 2019 10:41, UK
Leeds face Preston in the Sky Bet Championship on Boxing Day, live on Sky Sports Football.
Team news
Leeds midfielder Pablo Hernandez faces up to a month on the sidelines. The 34-year-old damaged a hamstring during the opening minute of Saturday's 2-1 Sky Bet Championship defeat at Fulham and will miss the whole festive programme and more.
Manager Marcelo Bielsa has had more positive news on striker Tyler Roberts and midfielder Jamie Shackleton, who are both back in training after hamstring problems. However, Barry Douglas will miss out through illness while Adam Forshaw continues to battle a hip injury.
Preston boss Alex Neil will be without full-backs Darnell Fisher and Joe Rafferty as they complete suspensions. Fisher picked up his 10th yellow card of the season in the 2-1 victory over Luton earlier this month four days after Rafferty was sent off during the win against Fulham, with the pair handed two and three-match bans respectively.
Club captain Tom Clarke returned to the starting line-up for the first time since August in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Cardiff and will hope to retain his place. Ben Davies is back in contention after an ankle injury, but Daniel Johnson and Louis Moult are still out.
Recent form
Leeds have failed to win either of their last two games. They were beaten by Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday, and threw away a three-goal lead against Cardiff the week before to draw 3-3 at Elland Road. They are, however, eight points clear of third in the table heading into Boxing Day.
Preston are unbeaten in their last three games. A draw against Cardiff at the weekend followed back-to-back wins over Fulham and Luton.
Latest highlights
Opta stats
Since losing 6-4 in September 2010, Leeds have lost none of their last four home league games against Preston, keeping a clean sheet in each match (W3 D1).
Preston have won just one of their last 10 league games against Leeds (D3 L6), a 3-1 win in April 2018.
Leeds have won their last three league matches on Boxing Day, including a 4-1 away win at Preston in 2016.
Live EFL
Preston have only lost two of their last 13 away league matches played on Boxing Day (W4 D7 L2), although those defeats have come in the last four such outings.
Leeds' Patrick Bamford has scored six goals in his last eight league games, after failing to score in each of his previous 10 in the competition.
After losing four consecutive games without scoring, Preston have picked up seven points from their last nine (W2 D1).
Prutton's prediction
Leeds have drawn and lost their last two games. But any fan of the club would have bitten your hand off to be eight points clear on Boxing Day.
If Preston win this one they could be right back in the battle for an automatic-promotion spot. It will be a battle and I think they could leave Elland Road with a point.
David Prutton predicts: 1-1 (8/1 with Sky Bet)
