Both aiming to bounce back from midweek defeats, West Yorkshire rivals Leeds United and Huddersfield Town will do battle at Elland Road on Saturday.

A 1-0 loss away at Stoke City saw the visitors fall nine points behind the top two in the Championship table, while their visitors dropped back down to 21st spot following a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Cardiff City.

Match preview

In their bid to win an immediate promotion back to the Premier League under the new management of Daniel Farke, Leeds United headed into the recent October international break in a relatively strong position, having bounced back from a tough start to sit in the top six with 19 points from 11 outings.

In those games, the Yorkshire outfit netted 17 goals while only conceding 11, and they would pick up where they left off on their return to action away at Norwich City last weekend, despite going into the interval 2-0 down at Carrow Road following goals from Gabriel Sara and Shane Duffy.

A Duffy own goal around the hour mark put the Yorkshire outfit back in the game, before Crysencio Summerville turned the game on its head in the final 15 minutes, scoring a brace to ensure his side left with all three points.

That left Farke's men on third in England's second tier with 22 points from 12 games, six behind second-placed Ipswich Town, but they were unable to make it four wins on the bounce on Wednesday, as they travelled to Stoke City and suffered a 1-0 defeat as the decisive goal went in off Whites defender Pascal Struijk in the 80th minute, after Patrick Bamford had squandered the opportunity to put them ahead from the spot.

Such a result meant Leeds United have now fallen nine points behind Ipswich in the top two, and they will be desperate to quickly bounce back on their return to Elland Road against a Huddersfield side who they suffered a pair of defeats to the last times the sides met in the hosts' promotion-winning 2019-20 Championship season.

They meet a Huddersfield side who make the short trip to Elland Road aiming to bounce back from a midweek setback of their own in their fight at the opposite end of the division.

Following Neil Warnock's departure after seven league games, Darren Moore stepped into the hot seat at the John Smith's Stadium in late September, but the Terriers were unable to make a fast start under their new boss.

After drawing two and losing one of his first three games in charge, they headed into the international break with just 11 points on the board from 11 outings, before making a crucial return to winning ways in their first game back last weekend, beating fellow strugglers Queens Park Rangers 2-1 on home turf thanks to early goals from Kian Harratt and Jack Rudoni.

Aiming to build an improved run on the back of that result, the Terriers most recently hosted Cardiff City on Tuesday, but they would come away empty-handed following a concerning 4-0 thrashing, as Callum Robinson, Dimitrios Goutas and Yakou Meite helped themselves to first-half goals and Perry Ng added a fourth before the hour mark.

With that result removing any positivity from their return to winning ways at the weekend, and seeing them drop back down to 21st place with a five-point lead over the bottom three, Huddersfield will aim to continue their winning run over the Whites in the first meeting between the sides since 2020, with what would be an eye-catching upset at Elland Road to increase their cushion.

Team News

Daniel Farke made some rotations to his Leeds United squad for their strip to Stoke City, and we could again see several changes on Saturday, with Crysencio Summerville and Daniel James both vying to return on the wings after Jaidon Anthony and Willy Gnonto came in in midweek.

While Patrick Bamford is pushing for a first league start of the season, Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter are more likely to get the nod through the middle in their 4-2-3-1 shape.

Elsewhere, Glen Kamara will likely return alongside Ethan Ampadu in midfield while Archie Gray and Sam Byram should both operate in full-back roles again with Djed Spence, Junior Firpo and Stuart Dallas still sidelined by injuries.

Following their 4-0 thrashing in midweek, Darren Moore may look to make several changes to his Huddersfield Town team on Saturday, and they will remain without Oliver Turton, Josh Ruffels, David Kasumu and Danny Ward due to injuries.

Tom Lees should come back in to face his former club, likely joining Matty Pearson and mainstay Michal Helik in a back three, leaving Yuta Nakayama to challenge for a wing-back spot, with Sorba Thomas and Jaheim Headley getting the nod last time out in more advanced wide roles.

Jonathan Hogg, Jack Rudoni and Ben Wiles are bound to all keep their places in the engine room, while Josh Koroma may displace Delano Burgzorg and join Kian Harratt up front.

Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Gray, Rodon, Struijk, Byram; Kamara, Ampadu; Summerville, Piroe, James; Rutter

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Helik, Lees; Thomas, Wiles, Hogg, Rudoni, Nakayama; Harratt, Koroma

We say: Leeds United 3-0 Huddersfield Town

Left wounded from their midweek defeat and seeking to bounce back in front of a home Elland Road crowd, we see Leeds being too strong for a Huddersfield Town side lacking confidence after their recent thrashing and back the Whites to come out on top in relatively dominant fashion.


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