A Yorkshire derby sees South Yorkshire outfit Rotherham United take on West Yorkshire club Leeds United at the New York Stadium on Saturday afternoon with not only bragging rights at stake but a precious three points for both teams as they sit at either end of the Championship table.
Starting with Rotherham United, and as expected, The Millers have found life back in the Championship tough going after the euphoria of promotion from League One at the end of last season.
Although Rotherham sit on the fringes of the relegation zone being one league position and two points above third from bottom club Reading, Rotherham manager Paul Warne has done a sterling job at the New York Stadium, operating on a shoestring budget and truly getting the most out of his players as he can, instead of waving a cheque book at the transfer market.
However, five defeats from their last six matches have plunged The Millers back into the relegation mire with only a rare 2-1 home win over fellow strugglers Preston North End to show for their efforts from their last 12 league matches in the Championship.
On a more positive note, Rotherham actually possess a fairly decent home record which stands at 5 wins, 6 draws 3 defeats, scoring 19 goals and conceding 21. Manager Paul Warne also has a virtually full squad to choose from with midfielder Ryan Williams (2 assists) expected to return to the line-up along with forward Vassell and defender Raggett.
Midfielder Vaulks and forward Smith (5 goals apiece) look to be Rotherham’s best bets of hitting the back of the net in this local derby.
Leeds United still remain top of the Championship but the chasing pack are closing in with 2nd placed Norwich City just one point behind them while both West Brom and Sheffield United are just four points adrift as we head into this weekend’s action in the Championship.
Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa’s highly publicised spying of their opponents’ training methods seem to have well and truly backfired on the Argentinian coach as his side have slumped to four defeats from their last five matches in all competitions, which included a 3rd round exit in the FA Cup to QPR.
Leeds had earlier been almost unstoppable as the visitors had picked up seven league wins on the trot and looked clear favourites for automatic promotion back into the Premier League, but the West Yorkshire club have stuttered in recent weeks with defeats to Hull City, Nottingham Forest and Stoke City.
Despite these disappointing results, Leeds still possess a reasonable away record which reads 7 wins, 3 draws, 4 defeats, scoring 24 goals and conceding 20 in reply. Along with West Brom, they’re the joint leading goalscorers away from home in the division which is understandable with attacking personnel such as Kemar Roofe (14 goals) being supplied by midfielder Hernandez (7 goals, 10 assists).
Fellow midfielder Klich (5 goals, 6 assists) has also been influential, but Bielsa will be without the services of key defender Pontus Jansson who is suspended. Kalvin Phillips returns from his suspension and is likely to deputise for Jansson at the back.
Rotherham will need no motivation for this clash and will be spurred on by Leeds’ recent indifferent form. For their part, Leeds know they must return to winning ways sooner rather than later if they’re to stay in the hunt for automatic promotion, so we could see a few goals fly in on Saturday afternoon.
The absence of Leeds defender Jansson can only further enhance the chances of over 2.5 goals here.