Leeds United
Everton FC
Everton FC
In-form Leeds have won two on the bounce and take on an Everton side in danger of falling away from top
Leeds to win 2-1
Leeds have ebbed and flowed almost like no other team this season, enjoying a good spell of form and racking up the points, before falling off a cliff and losing heavily.
Here, they come into the match in good form having beaten Newcastle and Leicester in successive matches to take them to the brink of the Premier League top half.
The goals have returned, too, for striker Patrick Bamford who ended his mini-drought in front of goal with a wonderful effort against Leicester. They’ll be feeling confident coming into this match.
On the other hand, Everton have looked off the pace recently and never really got going during their surprise defeat to Newcastle.
Although the Toffees have two games in hand on several of the teams above them, they risk falling further away from the European spots if they continue to drop points here.
Form Guide (all comps): LLLWW
Reasons to be cheerful:
Can move into the top half with a win here
Beat Everton back in November
Reasons to be fearful:
Players such as Raphinha, Llorente and Koch are all injury concerns
Everton’s away form has been good lately
Leeds will once again have their sights set on climbing the table after two consecutive wins putting them on the brink of a top half finish.
Southampton and Arsenal, the two sides directly above Leeds, play Manchester United and Wolves respectively, two difficult fixtures in which they could both drop points.
Leeds must be ready to take advantage and can use that as an incentive to grab maximum points here. With striker Patrick Bamford returning to form with a goal against Leicester, Leeds are looking sharp at the top end of the pitch right now.
The downside is that Raphinha may miss this one through injury. The Brazilian has three goal involvements from his last two matches and will leave a hole hard to fill against Everton.
Star Man – Patrick Bamford
After going four league games without a goal, the Englishman scored and assisted twice in the win over Leicester.
Form Guide (all comps): WWWDL
Reasons to be cheerful:
With two games in hand, they can catch top four
Away form is 4th best in the league
Reasons to be fearful:
Tough fixture schedule coming up
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has gone seven league games without scoring
Everton’s season is currently delicately balanced. On the positive, The Toffees have two games in hand over the teams above them, meaning that wins from those fixtures would see them leap into the top four.
On the other hand, they’ve slipped down to 8th following a surprise defeat to Newcastle and a point from a game against Leicester in which they scored first.
To add to their concerns, star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has failed to find the back of the net in his last seven league appearances, meaning that others have had to step up to the plate.
Their defeat against Leeds back in November ended a terrible run of form including four defeats from five. The Toffees will be hoping that this is the end of another poor spell where they’ve taken just four points from four matches.
Star Man – James Rodriguez
Scored against Leicester, and even though the whole team were poor against Newcastle, was arguably their best player
An end-to-end match
Both sides to score
Fairly even possession
Both Leeds and Everton have an opportunity to stake their claim here, the ability to rise up the table within their grasp.
With one or both of Southampton and Arsenal likely to drop points means that Leeds should be feeling confident, especially if Everton’s goal worries continue.
All results are possible, but Leeds could just pinch the win here.
Leeds to win 2-1
