Preview: Leeds United vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups

The two sides are separated by just a single point in the top half of the Championship table, with the hosts sat sixth as one of six sides on 16 points from their opening 10 matches, while their visitors are within touching distance in 11th spot.

Match preview

Leeds United head into the weekend on the back of an important return to winning ways on Wednesday, after suffering a setback in what has been an impressive run of form in their Championship promotion bid since the September international break.

They went into the break following a win and two draws, and on their return to action, Daniel Farke's men stretched an unbeaten streak to six games with 3-0 beatings of Millwall and Watford either side of a goalless stalemate with Hull, as Joel Piroe, Sam Byram and Jaidon Anthony all found the net in the final 25 minutes to fire them to victory over Watford and take their tally to 13 points from eight outings.

The Whites then faced a trip to fellow relegated side Southampton last weekend in their bid to extend the positive run of form, and despite the hosts being in the midst of a run of four consecutive Championship defeats, Leeds would come away empty-handed in a 3-1 defeat, having gone 3-0 down in the first half to an Adam Armstrong brace and a Will Smallbone goal before Pascal Struijk pulled one back in vain in the second half.

Farke's side then set out to quickly bounce back from that defeat on Wednesday when they hosted strugglers Queens Park Rangers, and they were able to take all three points, having gone ahead inside the opening 10 minutes through Crysencio Summerville and maintained the narrow lead throughout the contest.

With that result taking the Whites back into the top six and closing the gap to the top three to four points, they will aim to make it back-to-back home victories on Saturday to strengthen their position in the leading pack in their bid to win an immediate promotion back to the Premier League this season.

They meet a Bristol City who are looking to build on their own positive start to the Championship season, as Nigel Pearson's side firstly headed into the international break with eight points on the board from five outings, as they managed two victories and two draws alongside a solitary defeat to Birmingham City.

The Robins returned to action in mid-September in impressive fashion too, taking a creditable point from a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion and thrashing Plymouth Argyle 4-1 at Ashton Gate, thanks to goals from Sam Bell, Matty James, Mark Sykes and Harry Cornick, only to suffer their second and third league defeats of the season consecutively in the following two outings.

Pearson's men firstly faced a tough trip to leaders Leicester City and came away empty-handed following a 1-0 loss, as Jamie Vardy netted the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the second half, before they led Stoke City 2-0 at home last Saturday through Bell and Nakhi Wells, only for the visitors to draw level through Mehdi Leris and Sead Haksabanovic and eventually snatch all three points in the 89th minute through Nathan Lowe.

Aiming to rebound from those setbacks, the Robins most recently travelled to take on strugglers Rotherham United at the New York Stadium on Wednesday, and they succeeded in making a return to winning ways in dramatic fashion, having initially gone ahead through Tommy Conway in the 81st minute, only to be pegged back by a Tyler Blackett leveller four minutes from time, before Conway netted his second of the game deep into injury time to restore his side's lead.

Now on a high from that late triumph, Bristol City will travel to Yorkshire for the second time this week on Saturday with the aim of taking a major scalp in the Championship and leapfrogging the Whites with what would be an eye-catching win at Elland Road.

Leeds United Championship form:

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Bristol City Championship form:

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Team News

Daniel Farke may be tempted to field an unchanged Leeds United starting XI from their midweek triumph, with defenders Junior Firpo and Djed Spence remaining sidelined by injuries alongside Stuart Dallas and key attacker Willy Gnonto.

The squad is certainly deep with competition all over the pitch, though, with Ilia Gruev and Glen Kamara both fighting to come into the midfield after 17-year-old Archie Gray returned alongside Ethan Ampadu in the engine room last time out, while club captain Liam Cooper also had to settle for a place on the bench with Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk preferred in the middle of the defence and Luke Ayling and Sam Byram completing the back four.

In their preferred 4-2-3-1 shape, Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe will again line up through the middle, despite Patrick Bamford's return from an injury layoff, while Crysencio Summerville should again start on the right wing after netting the only goal on Wednesday, leaving Daniel James, Jaidon Anthony and Ian Poveda to fight for the remaining spot on the opposite flank.

Nigel Pearson, meanwhile, certainly has reason to make at least one change to his Bristol City side on Saturday, with Tommy Conway likely to come in and lead the line from the start after he netted both goals in their 2-1 win over Rotherham off the bench on Wednesday.

Competition is rife in the attacking areas of their 4-3-3 shape, and although Nakhi Wells, Andreas Weimann and Harry Cornick all have claims to start, Sam Bell and Mark Sykes should again get the nod on the wings, having netted four and two league goals respectively so far this term.

Elsewhere, Joe Williams, Matty James and Jason Knight could again form the midfield trio, despite competition from Andy King, while Rob Dickie and Kal Naismith will continue to partner up at the heart of the defence in the ongoing absence of Zak Vyner and Rob Atkinson.

Leeds United possible starting lineup:

Meslier; Ayling, Struijk, Rodon, Byram; Gray, Ampadu; Summerville, Piroe, James; Rutter

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

O'Leary; Gardner-Hickman, Naismith, Dickie, Pring; Knight, Williams, James; Bell, Conway, Sykes

We say: Leeds United 2-1 Bristol City

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