Leeds enter 2025 top of the Championship and face play-off hopefuls Blackburn at Elland Road on New Year’s Day.
Despite losing several key faces over the summer, expectations were still high for Daniel Farke’s side, and they have bounced back over the past six weeks.
Leeds have won five of their previous six matches and lost only one of their last ten. But that defeat came before their next opponents at the end of November.
They went top of the division thanks to Brenden Aaronson’s second-half goal at Derby on Sunday evening after Sheffield United had drawn with West Brom earlier in the day.
Blackburn go into Wednesday’s game in indifferent form, but they have enjoyed an excellent season so far. John Eustace is once again waving his magic wand at Ewood Park as Rovers currently sit fifth in the table and in the play-off places.
the championship Usually a tight affair, and extending Blackburn’s fruitless run into the new year could see the Eustace side slide towards mid-table. Sheffield Wednesday are only five points behind in eleventh place.
here 90 minutes Guide for the New Year’s Day Championship match.
Leeds vs Blackburn H2H record (last five matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Leeds |
Blackburn |
|---|---|
|
Derby 0-1 Leeds – 12/29/24 |
Blackburn 0-1 Hull – 29/12/24 |
|
Stoke 0-2 Leeds – 12/26/24 |
Blackburn 2-2 Sunderland – 12/26/24 |
|
Leeds 4-0 Oxford United – 12/21/24 |
Millwall 1-0 Blackburn – 21/12/24 |
|
Preston 1-1 Leeds – 12/14/24 |
Blackburn 2-0 Luton – 12/14/24 |
|
Leeds 3-1 Middlesbrough – 12/10/24 |
Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Blackburn – 12/10/24 |
|
nation |
TV Channel/Live Broadcast |
|---|---|
|
UK |
Sky Sports+ |
|
US |
Paramount+ |
|
Canada |
Not televised |
The home side are set to welcome back several injured stars in the new year, but Farke is unlikely to have any players back on Wednesday.
Joe Gelhardt, Junior Firpo and Max Wobber are all close to returning, while Ilya Gruev could miss a bit longer with a knee injury.
There could be some rotation from Sunday’s win over Derby, with Joel Pirro among those who came off the bench at Pride Park to slot into FARC’s XI.
Leeds expected lineup against Blackburn (4-2-3-1): Meslier. Bogle, Rodon, Strojek, Byram; Tanaka, Ampadu; Gonto, Aaronson, James; Peru,
Arnor Sigurdsson and Zak Gilsenan will be without Blackburn’s attacking quartet at Elland Road due to injury setbacks, with the duo expected to return at some point in January.
former Premier League Star player Todd Cantwell is set to start in the No.10 role, while the experienced Andreas Weimann is also in contention.
Lewis Travis is absent due to a hamstring problem, and Blackburn are also missing Scott Wharton, Harry Pickering and Hayden Carter.
Blackburn’s expected lineup against Leeds (4-2-3-1): pear. Britten, Hyam, Bath, Beck; Becker, Tronstad. Dolan, Cantwell, Hedges; Ohashi.
Blackburn are without a win in three matches and are the lowest scorers in the top half. Winning at Elland Road is no easy feat, as teams usually have to come out strong to beat Leeds at home.
FARC will certainly smell blood on New Year’s Day given how well they have performed over the past month. They are the top scorers in the league and have once again impressed at home, winning their last nine games at Elland Road.
That’s a tough ask for Rovers, whose winless run is expected to be punctuated in the new year.
Prediction: Leeds 2-0 Blackburn
Read the latest news, report rumours, and react to the match
https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1915,h_1077,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/90min_en_international_web/01jgejrnke0e5yjtbn3k.jpg
Source link