Leeds United vs. Ipswich Town Preview

Leeds United will head into their Npower Championship fixture with Ipswich Town at Elland Road needing nothing short of a win if they are to keep their fading promotion hopes alive.

The Whites were up with the pace and just three points behind the automatic promotion places leading into the Christmas period until they suffered their usual festive slump – and now Simon Grayson’s men are under pressure to put things right after falling down the table to eleventh.

Nonetheless, despite their league position looking far from flattering, the Yorkshire side are just one point behind the play-off zone and are still in with a shout if they can get back to winning ways on a consistent basis.

Ipswich Town are grafting all they can under the guidance of respected manager Paul Jewell however they are finding life tough currently sitting in 19th, just a few points above relegation territory.

There 2-1 victory over Leeds at Portman Road earlier in the campaign more than suggested that the Tractor Boys have the quality to succeed – and they indeed have a squad which is probably underachieving.

Ipswich fully warranted their success over the Whites in October and they may fancy their chances of completing an impressive double at Elland Road on the basis of Leeds’ poor run of form.

Although the Whites stopped a dismal run of three straight defeats at the turn of the year with a battling 2-1 win over Burnley, their limitations were then woefully exposed in the F.A Cup against a second string Arsenal side before their firepower failed to surface again away at Crystal Palace where they were held to a draw by ten men.

Leeds can expect to have the services of new signing Robbie Rogers at their disposal in time for the visit of Ipswich and the pacey American winger may well bring the spark needed to get back into real contention.

If the hosts do indeed fail to bank three points the pressure may well start to build on manager Simon Grayson who was assigned the task of getting the Whites promoted this season by Chairman Ken Bates.

If Leeds can reproduce the kind of form that saw them waltz to a 0-4 triumph at Nottingham Forest at the start of December then they could well be too strong for the Blues who have struggled on the road.

But it is surely just a matter of time before Paul Jewell’s men ease themselves away from danger and the occasion of playing Leeds at Elland Road in front of a big crowd is reason enough to rise to the challenge.

Jason Scotland may be given the nod by Jewell considering his fine scoring record against Leeds and with recent results between the two sides going their way; the visitors are taken to land some decent value at odds of around 4/1.

Leeds just cannot be backed with any real confidence at the moment and fans are likely to be frustrated for quite some time as yet further new signings try and settle in whilst their defensive issues remain largely unresolved.

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15/01/2012     © Frixo 2024