Match Preview: Preston North End v Leeds United. Bielsa’s boys look to build on Birmingham win.

Match: Leeds United v Preston North End

Date: 21st October 2019

Time: 19.45 BST, 14.45 ET, 11.45 PST.

Venue: Deepdale, Preston, Lancashire, England

TV Coverage: Sky Sports Football (Red Button)

Streaming: iFollow, LUTV (outside the UK).

This match is also previewed in the latest Mighty Whites Podcast, which you should definitely listen to and can be listened to here.

---

Leeds United will travel to Deepdale Tuesday night to take on high flying Preston North End in the Sky Bet Championship. Leeds will be in high spirits going into tomorrow’s tough away fixture after a memorable home victory over the weekend.

Leeds celebrated their 100th birthday in front of a sold out Elland Road, the 1-0 victory was decided by a Kalvin Phillips goal. However it is back to reality for the Whites on Tuesday with a tough mid-week away fixture to focus on and the three points being the main focus as ever for United.

THE OPPOSITION

Preston have made a decent start to the campaign under Alex Neil and currently sit in sixth place, occupying that final play-off spot.

Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images

PNE are yet to lose in the championship at Deepdale so far this season and will be looking to continue that great home form tomorrow evening against a strong Leeds United side. However the Lancashire club has shown slight weakness in the shape of away form so far this season and are coming into this fixture off the back of a 1-0 away defeat at Reading FC on Saturday.

Preston will of course be looking to bounce back from that disappointing result over the weekend and will see no better opportunity to do so than turning over one of the league’s big boys at home. After last season when Leeds ran out as 2-0 winners thanks to two Patrick Bamford goals, the Lilywhites will be even more determined to make up for it when the two teams face off tomorrow evening.

Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Of course the season is still very early on but with Christmas time approaching Alex Neil and his men will want to still be in and around those play-off places come December and in order to do so, picking up points at home will be massively important to try and push on and compete at the top end of the table.

Preston are the current top scorers in the Championship with 23 goals from their 12 matches. The pick of the players so far this season has been attacking midfielder Daniel Johnson, who has 7 goals and 4 assists from his 11 games played. Leeds will have to keep him quiet when Preston have the ball, although it would still be expected that Leeds will have the majority of possession.

LEEDS UNITED

United will be in very high spirits going into the game after such a memorable day at Elland Road on Saturday and will be looking to take that positive energy into Tuesday’s fixture at Deepdale.

Leeds go into this game sat in second place in the league table just two points behind league leaders West Bromwich Ablion and will be keen on securing the three points to try and climb their way back to the top.

A strong start to the season was always expected of Marcelo Bielsa and his men this season after last season’s disappointing finale and a strong start has been made. However you can’t help but feel the start to this season could have, and arguably should have been better.

www.experimental361.com

Leeds have (like last season) dominated nearly every side they have faced so far this season but have not made as much use of the possession and domination as they would have liked. The goals seemed to have dried up a little bit prior to the international break with the White’s netting three goals in four games which is unlike the usual Leeds we have seen under ‘El Loco’.

However Leeds will be going into the game as confident as ever, being one of the strongest teams in the league and if they bring their A game, it’s tough for any team in this league to take points from United.

BAMFORD VS NKETIAH

Patrick Bamford has been the starting striker since the start of the season and began impressively netting four goals in five games as well as picking up an assist. The number 9’s goals have dried up since his strike against Stoke at the end of August however his performances and work rate have not.

Eddie Nketiah is considered one of England’s hottest properties in football right now, yet finds himself sitting on the bench every weekend. The youngster has netted two goals in the league for United and two goals in the EFL cup but has had minimal game time compared to his competitor Bamford. Nketiah has impressed recently in the England under 21’s netting a hat-trick against Austria last week causing more United fans calling for his call up into the starting XI.

PREDICTED LINE UPS

Preston prediction produced by Jake Oates - www.fromthefinney.co.uk

PREDICTION

Leeds must see every game of the season as a must win if they want that return to the promise land. Confident that they can build on Saturday’s win I will go with a 2-1 Leeds win.

What do you think the result will be? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @ThruItAllLUFC.