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Match: Leeds United v Queens Park Rangers
Date: 8 December 2018
Time: 15.00 BST, 10.00 AM EDT, 12.00 PM ART
Venue: Elland Road
Television: None
Streaming: LUTV and QPR+ for overseas viewers.
Check livesoccertv for more information.
All-time Record: Leeds v QPR: 22W 16D 18L
Previous League Results: 9 December 2017: QPR 1-3 Leeds; 6 May 2018 Leeds 2-0 QPR
Bielsa speaking now. On injuries: "I'm sure I've done something wrong because God is punishing me!" Jamie Shackleton will replace Stuart Dallas at right-back, he says. "This is thanks to the work the academy did for the first team." #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) December 6, 2018
Leeds United go into this match against Queens Park Rangers riding a three game winning and clean sheet streak, despite being down a number of first-team defenders. Captain Liam Cooper and fill-in fullback Stuart Dallas have been added to the list of players in the infirmary, so Marcelo Bielsa will almost certainly be having to insert at least one Academy player into the lineup.
The most likely addition to the lineup will be Jamie Shackleton at right back, with the Academy midfielder likely to get a look at filling in for Dallas, who himself was filling in for the injured Luke Ayling.
QPR have used a single striker formation for most of the season, so Leeds will almost certainly go with a 4-1-4-1 formation, and Kalvin Phillips will probably line up as a central defender alongside Pontus Jansson, with Barry Douglas as the other fullback to Shackleton. Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich seem to have cemented their places in the central midfield, but it remains to be seen if Samu Saiz has done enough to get himself back into the starting XI. Jack Clarke could be used as left wing if Bielsa choose to rest Gjanni Alioski, with Kemar Roofe up top and Pablo Hernandez as the other winger.
Bielsa said during that press conference that Bamford and Brown are now available. Interesting to see if one or both make the bench on Saturday. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) December 6, 2018
The only other changes might be Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown making his Leeds debut, along with Patrick Bamford making a return from injury that he suffered earlier this year. Bamford has been out since early September, after injuring his knee during a U23 match while the club was on international break. Kemar Roofe has been brilliant and even Tyler Roberts has been good filling in as a spot starter and bench potion, but Bamford will provide a different alternative because of his ability in the air.
QPR have had a rollercoaster of a season, as they started out poor, won a bunch of games in a row, and now have started to balance out in form recently. QPR have won once in the past five games and lost twice, and they currently sit in 11th place on 28 points, six points from the playoff spots and 10 points from the relegation spots.
This the type of game that Leeds need to put away and get all three points from if they are serious about a promotion push this season. QPR are having a fairly mediocre season, and Leeds should be getting victories to ensure that they are in the top two and the end of the season.