Aston Villa 'eye' Leeds United star with value of 'more than £30m' as Ipswich Town opponents dealt four injury blows

Leeds United have the opportunity to lay down the gauntlet to Ipswich Town and Leicester City on Friday night when they travel to Loftus Road to face a QPR side aiming to secure their spot in the Championship for next season.

The London outfit are four points clear of the bottom three with two games remaining but three points on Friday will mathematically seal their spot in the second tier for another year. For Leeds, the stakes are promotion to the Premier League as their season-long battle with Ipswich and Leicester heads towards a dramatic climax.

By 10pm on Friday, Leeds will have played two more games than Ipswich but could sit four points clear with a win at QPR as they seek to put the pressure on Kieran McKenna’s side. Leeds’ goal difference is better than Ipswich’s by nine, meaning even a draw and win for Ipswich in their next two games coupled with a Whites victory at QPR will see Daniel Farke’s men in control of their own destiny ahead of the final day. Ahead of the fixture we have rounded up some of the latest news from Leeds and their rivals.

Aston Villa ‘keeping tabs’ on Summerville

Aston Villa are keeping a close eye on Leeds United goal machine Crysencio Summerville, per a report from Football Insider. Summerville was named Championship Player of the Season at the recent EFL awards following a stellar campaign at Elland Road.

He has netted 20 goals and provided 10 assists in all competitions, with his performances reportedly peaking the interest of a number of Premier League clubs. The winger is under contract at Elland Road until 2026 and if Leeds are promoted they will be under less pressure to part ways with the forward, who is said to be valued at over £30m. His importance was further underlined on Monday as he scored twice in Leeds’ vital 4-3 win at Middlesbrough.

Coventry pre-Ipswich injury woes

Coventry City could be without four players for their home fixture with Ipswich Town on Tuesday night as a hectic schedule begins to catch up with Mark Robins’ side. The Sky Blues took Manchester United all the way to penalties in last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final, as they also had a goal chalked off for a narrow offside before exiting the competition with a shootout defeat.

They lost 3-2 at home to Hull City on Wednesday night in a fatal blow to their play-off hopes, as they now sit nine points behind sixth place with three games remaining. Leeds, who lost 2-1 at Coventry earlier this month, will be hoping for a favour from Robins and his players when they take on Ipswich next week. However, they may need to do it the hard way against the Tractor Boys, as Fabio Tavares, Victor Torp, Joel Latibeaudiere and Luis Binks are all facing the prospect of missing Coventry’s final three games.

In an update, Robins said: “Fabio has got to go for a surgical opinion on his ankle. He’s got ligament damage and we have got to see whether he needs surgery or not. I think that’s getting done tomorrow (Thursday). Victor has torn a stomach muscle and was in too much pain to be involved (on Wednesday). I think it’s where there’s an attachment to his hip.

“Binksy had a tight Achilles at half-time and then just felt it in the game and had to go off. I don’t know how bad that is yet. Joel Latibeaudiere picked up a calf problem a while back and has been managing it, and today it has caught up with him a little bit.”

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Questioned if the injuries left the quartet out for the season, Robins responded: “I don’t know, there’s not long left but potentially yes. Certainly Fabio, potentially Joel and Binksy, I am not sure yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if he missed the rest of the season as well. I am not sure where he is quite at.”