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Feb 28, 2015 at 3pm UK
 
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Preview: Leeds United vs. Watford

:Headline: Preview: Leeds United vs. Watford: ID:207969: from db_amp
Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Leeds United and playoff hopefuls Watford at Elland Road.

Watford could climb as high as third in the Championship table with victory over Leeds United at Elland Road this weekend.

The Hornets currently occupy sixth place in a fascinating battle at the top of the table, with just one point separating the four teams currently in the playoff positions.

With Ipswich Town and Norwich City not playing until Sunday and at least one of them guaranteed to drop points in the East Anglian derby, Watford will have a chance to steal a march on some of their rivals on Saturday.

However, any slip-up in Yorkshire would leave them exposed to the possibility of dropping out of the top six, with Brentford waiting a point behind to pounce on any chance they get.

Slavisa Jokanovic's side will be confident of keeping up their end of the bargain having won four of their last five matches, although the solitary defeat in that time was a damaging one to rivals Norwich.

They were straight back to winning ways on Tuesday, however, cruising to a 3-0 victory over Rotherham United at Vicarage Road - the sixth time they have scored three or more goals in a match since the start of December.

Odion Ighalo has been right at the heart of that tremendous scoring record, and another brace in midweek took his tally to 14 goals in his last 10 appearances for the club.

Troy Deeney was also on the scoresheet for his 13th of the season, and that deadly duo is expected to lead the line once again as Matej Vydra and Fernando Forestieri watch on from the bench.

Jokanovic has selection problems elsewhere too, with Ikechi Anya and Juan Carlos Paredes pushing for a recall having been dropped in midweek.

They may have to settle for a place among the subs once again, however, with Jokanovic unlikely to make unnecessary changes to his winning formula.

Leeds, meanwhile, saw their recent revival suffer a setback on Tuesday as they fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Neil Redfearn's side were the form team in the division going into the match having won five of their previous six games, but a goal in either half saw the Seagulls ease to victory at The Amex.

Even so, the Whites have staved off the threat of relegation courtesy of their recent upturn in form, with 10 points now separating them from the bottom three and only 13 matches left this season.

Once again, off-field issues have dominated the headlines at the club in recent days, with the owners insisting that they are not looking to sell up despite rumoured interest from actor and fan Russell Crowe.

Redfearn's reign has been short so far - although perhaps not by the standards of the club's previous two managers - but he will already be well-versed in the art of trying to focus his side's attention to matters on the pitch.

That will again be the case this weekend as they look to improve on a patchy record at home that has seen them win three, lose three and draw one of their last seven outings at Elland Road.

If that seems inconsistent, it is even more so when you consider that two of the victories have come against Derby County and Bournemouth, while two of the defeats have been to Fulham and Wigan Athletic.

Giuseppe Bellusci remains suspended for the hosts this weekend, meaning that Liam Cooper will again fill in alongside Sol Bamba at the back, while at the other end of the field Steve Morison is a doubt through injury.

Sam Byram was rested against Brighton and could make his return to the starting XI, with Casper Sloth the most likely to make way.

Bellusci and Byram were both sent off in a nightmare afternoon for Leeds at Vicarage Road in August as Watford ran out 4-1 winners in the reverse fixture.

Leeds:

Recent form: WLWWWL

Possible starting lineup: Silvestri; Wootton, Bamba, Cooper, Taylor; Murphy, Cook, Byram, Austin, Mowatt; Antenucci

Watford:

Recent form: LWWWLW

Possible starting lineup: Gomes; Cathcart, Ekstrand, Angella, Hoban; Layun, Watson, Abdi, Tozser; Deeney, Ighalo

Sports Mole says: 1-1


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