Leeds United dropped down to second in the Championship table over the weekend after Sheffield United secured all three points in their clash with Luton Town.
The Whites are now second in the division but can move straight back to the top of the league with as little as a point in their match against Sunderland this evening.
Daniel Farke’s side welcome the Black Cats, who are fourth in the table and can move level with Burnley with a win, to Elland Road for a big match-up tonight.
The West Yorkshire outfit come into this clash off the back of a terrific 4-0 win away at Watford in their last outing in the Championship, and will be hoping to follow up with another impressive showing.
Leeds are currently gunning for automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking and that means that every point counts, with Sheffield United and Burnley providing stern competition.
The Whites came close to a huge three points when they visited the Stadium of Light in the reverse fixture earlier this season, only for disaster to strike…
What happened when Leeds visited Sunderland
Farke’s men travelled to Wearside at the start of October, in the early stages of the 2024/25 campaign, and played out an entertaining, for the neutral, 2-2 draw.
It was the Black Cats who struck first, though, as teenage sensation Chris Rigg converted from close-range after a scramble in the box provided him with a huge chance to score after just nine minutes.
Joel Piroe did not need long to find an answer for Leeds, however, as the Dutch centre-forward met Wilfried Gnonto’s beautiful cross from the right flank to head into the bottom corner in the 22nd minute.
It was then a stalemate until Junior Firpo drove forward down the left flank and played a one-two with Gnonto, who put it on a plate for the left-back to find the far corner in the 56th minute.
Leeds appeared to be on course for all three points at the Stadium of Light as they repelled attack after attack, with Joe Rodon making six clearances and three blocks in total.
However, with just seconds left in the match, Illan Meslier inexplicably allowed the ball to bounce through his grasp and into the back of his net after Firpo deflected an effort that seemed to be going straight towards the French goalkeeper.
It was a big mistake by the former Lorient man and one that he will surely be keen to avenge by putting in a fantastic performance against Sunderland this evening.
All of the players across the defence could need to be at their best, though, because Black Cats centre-forward Wilson Isidor has been in phenomenal form of late.
Wilson Isidor's form this season
The 24-year-old number nine failed to score in the reverse fixture but he did create a ‘big chance’ for his teammates and won four of his seven duels, which shows that it was far from a poor performance.
Isidor, who joined the club on a permanent deal in the winter window after initially being on loan from Zenit, has proven himself to be a reliable striker at Championship level so far this season.
The French whiz has racked up 11 goals and seven ‘big chances’ created in 26 starts in the second tier for Regis Le Bris’ side, and has been in particularly impressive form of late.
Plymouth Argyle (H)
7.0
1
0
Middlesbrough (A)
7.3
1
0
Watford (H)
7.2
0
1
Luton Town (H)
7.5
1
0
As you can see in the table above, Isidor has registered one goal contribution in each of his last four matches in the league, which shows that Leeds are up against a striker who is confident and ready to produce tonight.
The Sunderland star, who scored the winner in a clash with Sheffield United last month, is a huge threat at the top end of the pitch and one that the Whites have to be wary of ahead of this game this evening at Elland Road.
In order to silence the in-form French marksman, Farke must ruthlessly ditch Ilia Gruev from the starting line-up in order to bring Pascal Struijk into the side.
Why Pascal Struijk could silence Wilson Isidor
Firstly, it will be harsh to drop the Bulgarian dynamo from the XI after he played the full 90 minutes against Watford last time out, but Struijk is now back from injury and bringing him into the team would allow Ethan Ampadu to play in his natural midfield role.
Gruev lost seven of his 11 duels against the Hornets and the captain, who has won 64% of his duels this season, could move up into midfield to offer more physicality in the middle of the park.
As well as improving the physicality of the midfield set-up, moving Ampadu into the midfield alongside Ao Tanak and dropping the Bulgaria international to the bench would provide Farke with the chance to reinstate Struijk next to Rodon.
The £50k-per-week Dutch defender, who was once dubbed “unbelievable” by former teammate Liam Cooper, recently missed four matches through injury and has been on the bench in the last three league outings, but should be brought into the XI for this game in order to utilise his defensive skills up against Isidor.
Appearances
32
27
Tackles + interceptions per game
1.4
1.7
Duels won per game
3.8
4.4
Aerial duel success rate
54%
64%
Error led to shot/goal/penalty
3
0
As you can see in the table above, Struijk could have a better chance of dealing with the in-form Sunderland centre-forward than Rodon, based on his superior defensive statistics in the Championship this season.
The former Ajax youngster has won the ball back more frequently than the Wales international, without making any major mistakes that have led to shots, goals, or penalties, and this suggests that he could be the man to silence Isidor this evening.
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That is why Farke must drop Gruev down to the bench to shuffle his side around, with Ampadu moving into midfield to dominate in the middle of the park and Struijk coming into the XI to deal with the French striker.