An enormous Premier League contest involving two struggling teams will take place at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon, as Leeds United welcome Norwich City.
Leeds are currently 16th in the table, just two points above 18th-placed Burnley, while Norwich sit rock bottom of the division, five points from the safety of 17th position entering the final straight.
Match preview
© Reuters
Jesse Marsch would have been under no illusions as to the size of the task facing him when it comes to keeping Leeds in the Premier League this season, and the American has been unable to prevent the Whites from suffering two defeats from his two matches since replacing Marcelo Bielsa as head coach.
Indeed, Leeds lost 1-0 at Leicester City last weekend before suffering a 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa on Thursday evening, which made it six straight losses in England's top flight.
The Whites are without a Premier League win since the middle of January, and their disappointing run of form has left them in 16th spot in the table, just two points above 18th-placed Burnley, who have two games in hand, while Everton just below them have three matches spare at this stage.
Leeds have not even scored a single goal in their last four Premier League games, which is particularly concerning considering the amount of goals that they are conceding; letting in 64 in England's top flight this term, which is the worst record in the division ahead of Norwich (61).
The Whites have the fourth-worst home record in the league this term, meanwhile, collecting just 13 points from 14 matches, suffering seven defeats in the process, but they recorded a 2-1 win over Norwich in the reverse match at Carrow Road earlier this season.
© Reuters
Norwich, meanwhile, will enter Sunday's match off the back of a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea on Thursday evening, which left them bottom of the table on 17 points.
The Canaries have not been cut adrift, sitting five points behind 17th-placed Everton, although the Toffees have three games in hand, while Burnley in 18th have two games spare on the side at the bottom.
As a result, it is going to take a monumental effort from Norwich to avoid being relegated back to the Championship, and they will be looking to avoid a sixth straight league defeat this weekend, while the strugglers are bidding to secure all three points for the first time since January 21.
Dean Smith's side have the second-worst away record in the Premier League this season, picking up just eight points from 13 matches, but they recorded a 3-1 victory at Elland Road on their last visit in February 2019, securing all three points in the Championship affair.
Norwich have lost their last two league matches on their travels at Liverpool and Southampton, but they were 3-0 winners at fellow strugglers Watford on January 21 and will be aware that Leeds have serious problems of their own entering Sunday's contest at Elland Road.
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Leeds will again be without the services of Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips, Leo Hjelde and Tyler Roberts, while Junior Firpo was stretched off with a knee injury in the defeat to Villa on Thursday.
Diego Llorente is likely to return to the starting side, with Stuart Dallas potentially moving across to left-back and Luke Ayling shuffling across to the right side of the defence.
Patrick Bamford could also come in for a start, having appeared off the bench against Villa, and Daniel James could be the player to miss out in attack, with Raphinha, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison set to keep their spots.
As for Norwich, Billy Gilmour is available again after being unable to face his parent club on Thursday, but Adam Idah and Andrew Omobamidele will again miss out through injury.
Head coach Smith could revert to a four-man defence at Elland Road, which would allow Milot Rashica to come into the attack alongside Teemu Pukki and Joshua Sargent.
There are unlikely to be many changes from the side that started against Chelsea, though, with Max Aarons and Brandon Williams set to feature at full-back, while Pierre Lees Melou and Christoph Zimmermann could potentially drop out to allow Gilmour and Rashica to start.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Dallas; Forshaw, Koch; Raphinha, Rodrigo, Harrison; Bamford
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Hanley, Kabak, Williams; Gilmour, Normann, McLean; Sargent, Pukki, Rashica
We say: Leeds United 1-1 Norwich City
Both sides desperately need to win this match, and it is a huge affair towards the bottom of the table. A point does not suit either team, but we are struggling to back either with any serious confidence, ultimately settling on a 1-1 at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.
