Leeds United YEP Jury: '˜It's a Whites win' ... '˜We've turned a corner' ... '˜Expecting three points'

OUR YEP Jury have their say on Leeds United's Championship clash at Queens Park Rangers.
Pablo Hernandez.Pablo Hernandez.
Pablo Hernandez.

Scroll down the page and see if you agree with their opinions and predictions. Whether you do or not, add your own thoughts and score predictions for today’s Loftus Road showdowon at the bottom of the page.

DAVID WATKINS

Leeds United go to Loftus Road knowing a win would build on a nice little run that is developing after victories over Middlesbrough and Barnsley, a strong draw with Villa and a performance at Molineux against high-flying hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers that was far better than the score suggested.

Thomas Christiansen.Thomas Christiansen.
Thomas Christiansen.
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A win against Queens Park Rangers would also draw a veil over that dire run of six defeats in seven that threatened to leave our season dead in the water.

QPR are in poor form; they’ve lost four of their last five and only rescued a draw in the game they didn’t lose with late goals against Brentford. Only Hull City and Norwich are lower in the six-game form table.

If Leeds are to claw their way back into the top six and give confidence we can be there in May we have to win games like this.

QPR have won only five league games all season, although all of them at home and all by a one goal margin. It’s a Leeds win for me.

Ian Holloway.Ian Holloway.
Ian Holloway.

Prediction: Queens Park Rangers 1 Leeds United 2.

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Six-game run can get United back into play-offs contention
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Thomas Christiansen.Thomas Christiansen.
Thomas Christiansen.

MATTHEW EVANS

On the opening day of 2016/2017, our shambolic performance at Loftus Road brought with it visions of a horror season to come.

Thankfully, the only horror turned out to be missing out on the play-offs so agonisingly in April and not relegation from the Championship. QPR have had a poor start to this campaign and look fairly weak on paper so this is the type of game we really need to be winning if we are going to avoid that fate again in 2018.

Following tomorrow up with a couple of home games against struggling Norwich and Hull and away trips to Birmingham and Burton should, in theory, give us a decent chance of a good Christmas run. Things are rarely that simple at Leeds United though and I expect to be given a tough time in the capital at a difficult ground.

Ian Holloway.Ian Holloway.
Ian Holloway.
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I imagine Thomas Christiansen will stick with the same team that started against Villa, assuming Pablo Hernandez is fit, and we’ll be looking for a more complete, 90 minutes display, especially in central midfield.

Unfortunately, Ronaldo Vieira and Kalvin Phillips let their impressive influence on last Friday’s game slip in the second half.

That said, we’re good enough to get the points and banish the memory of last August.

Prediction: Queens Park Rangers 0 Leeds United 2.

KEITH INGHAM

This week, we remember one of greatest players to ever wear the white shirt. Billy Bremner was part of the most successful Leeds United side and yesterday it was 20 years since his sad passing at the age of 54. He will never be forgotten.

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Tomorrow, Leeds travel to London to face QPR, who have not had the best of seasons and sit at the lower end of the Championship table, but any side that is managed by Ian Holloway will always be up for a battle. Like most games that pit top-10 teams against those lower than them, the result is never a foregone conclusion.

Thomas Christiansen’s men seem to have turned the corner, with seven points from four games and performances have improved. The defence that looked porous, looks stronger and the midfield is made up of players who can conjure up something out of nothing. If we had a proven goalscorer, the garden would look rosy. We haven’t so Caleb Ekuban or one of the other strikers will continue up front and provide endeavour but not many goals. Not a criticism just a plain fact!

Prediction: Queens Park Rangers 1 Leeds United 2.

MIKE GILL

Loftus Road – the home of Saturday’s hosts Queens Park Rangers – has not been a happy hunting ground for United in recent seasons but ghosts can be laid.

Ian Holloway, the Hoops’ manager, is a wily old fox and the London side have already beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United at home. This one will, therefore, be another tough challenge for Leeds.

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Although Rangers have taken only one point from the last two games, if you look behind the headlines they have put up two feisty performances.

Seemingly dead and buried against Brentford with four minutes of injury time left, they managed to score twice and salvage a draw. Also, at Preston they managed to hold out for 88 minutes with 10 men for most of that time. They have had a number of injury problems and will certainly be without the suspended Jamie Mackie and Alex Baptiste.

With or without Pablo Hernandez, United should be good for at least a point.

Prediction: Queens Park Rangers 2 Leeds United 2.

GARY NEWBOULD

After the Friday-night draw with Aston Villa, Leeds United finally return to Saturday 3pm action with a trip to take on Ian Holloway’s Queens Park Rangers.

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With no wins in their last five league matches you could be fooled into thinking that there is a crisis at Loftus Road. However, look just two further games back and you see home victories against Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Once again, welcome to the insanity of predicting football matches in the SkyBet Championship.

Hopefully coach Thomas Christiansen will be able to name an unchanged line-up from the one that performed so well in the first half at home to Aston Villa with Pablo Hernandez expected to recover from a knock and no new injury or suspension issues.

It’s absolutely vital that the Whites start the festive campaign on the right foot with a victory in West London and, provided the attitude is right from minute one, I’m expecting three points.

Prediction: Queens Park Rangers 1 Leeds United 3.