The Premier League will brace itself for an enticing encounter as Leeds United play hosts to Wolves at Elland Road on Monday.-A tactical battle is set to transpire on Monday as Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United take on Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves at the Elland Road. The hosts are coming into this game on the back of a supreme start to the campaign, following their promotion to the Premier League this summer. Watch Free!

Match Info

Start date: 20 Oct 2020 01:00

Location: Leeds

 Venue: Elland Road

Referee: David Coote, England

The Whites have won two of their four matches against Fulham and Sheffield United respectively, while their performances over Premier League giants Liverpool and Manchester City raised a lot of eyebrows. In fact, they managed to hold Man City to a 1-1 draw in their last match and are ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers heading into this game.

Wolves, however, have also secured two victories so far this campaign. Incidentally, both of their wins have also come against Sheffield United and Fulham, much like weekend opponents. They were poor against Manchester City, though, slumping to a 3-1 defeat earlier in the campaign.

That said, the West Midlands outfit has started to show a bit of promise, of late and will be desperate for their third victory of the season as they look to push further up the table. And here, at the Hard Tackle, we will take a look at both these sides ahead of this fascinating encounter in the Premier League on Monday.

Tactics & Team News

Leeds United

Bielsa was dealt with two major blows last week as both Diego Llorente and Liam Cooper picked up injuries during the international break. The former has been ruled out for a few weeks while Cooper is a doubt and is unlikely to feature on Monday.

Leeds United have extended the contract of Gaetano Berardi this week, but he too remains sidelined, meaning we could Bielsa recalling Pascal Struijk back into the starting lineup. The youngster may feature alongside Robin Koch and Luke Ayling, with the home side likely to opt for a three-man backline against Wolves.

In midfield, Pablo Hernandez is available once again after missing out the past few matches due to injury. He could be an option for Bielsa in the second half, with the Argentine most likely to deploy Kalvin Phillips in the holding midfield role, with additional support from Mateusz Klich and Stuart Dallas.

Dallas, in particular, was impressive against Manchester City in the last game. The left-back can feature in central midfield, so we may see him operate alongside Klich, thus allowing Jack Harrison to occupy the left wingback role, though the Manchester City winger would ideally operate as a left-winger, with Dallas dropping back in defence.

Helder Costa, meanwhile, will be desperate to make an impression against his former side on Monday. The Portuguese should operate at right wing-back, looking to provide support to the offensive duo of Rodrigo Moreno and Patrick Bamford.

New signing Raphinha could make his Leeds United debut from the bench while the likes of Ian Poveda, Ezgjan Alioski and Tyler Roberts are all options for Bielsa in the final third.

Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Meslier; Ayling, Koch, Struijk; Costa, Klich, Phillips, Dallas, Harrison; Bamford, Rodrigo.

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