Leeds United fans debate 'preferred wingers' statement amid mixed prediction vs relegation-threatened Hull City

NEIL GREWER

Leeds United have overcome the away game “hoodoo” with two wins on the bounce, but they will need to match their Stoke City and Derby County performances to achieve a third victory. Hull City will be encouraged by a new manager and by seeing Leeds thwarted against a stubborn, well organised Blackburn team and doubtless will try to employ similar tactics.

On that note I do wish referees would penalise time wasting with bookings more frequently. Against Blackburn, Daniel Farke used substitutions to make a two up-front combination of Mateo Joseph and Patrick Bamford. Personally, I was pleased to see a “Plan B” and thought it did offer potential – indeed it won the penalty.

This provides an option to cause defences different problems and may be useful in those games where Leeds struggle to break down resolute defences.Squad rotation will again feature in this fixture – the last before the break for a less taxing FA Cup game against Harrogate Town – and as usual the prominent question remains, who starts at number nine?

Following recent trends I expect full use of substitute options, allowing changes amongst the front three.

Prediction: Hull City 1 Leeds United 2

ANDY RHODES

Following a painful, last-minute equaliser on Wednesday, Leeds will be hoping to get back on track with a trip to Humberside.

Hull City themselves are fresh from stoppage-time heartbreak after their defeat at home to Middlesbrough, but neither side can afford to dwell on missed opportunities. The Tigers will fight for a result against Leeds as they are in the midst of a relegation scrap, while you also have a feeling they will raise their game against the Whites. Daniel Farke may opt to rotate his squad once again, but it became clear over the Christmas period that Manor Solomon and Dan James are his preferred wingers.

The debate will rumble on over whether to start Joel Piroe or Mateo Joseph.The latter won the penalty on New Year’s Day while Piroe is undoubtedly the better finisher. However Leeds line up, they must be prepared for a battle which could be won or lost by the odd goal.After every team dropped points over Christmas, all will be focused on a result this weekend.

Prediction: Hull City 1 Leeds United 1

DAVID WATKINS

Disappointing as the home draw with Blackburn was, it didn’t do too much damage. With Burnley similarly failing to beat Stoke City and Sunderland defeating Sheffield United we now lead both Burnley and Blades by three points.

Dropping points at home at some stage was inevitable and especially once we started to see more of the top-half teams arrive at Elland Road. Although they had stumbled recently, losing to lowly Hull City last time out, Rovers have shown themselves to be one of the more useful outfits in the Championship this season and they still sit handily placed for the top six.

So, the draw was no disgrace and we might have predicted it when research showed there had not been a draw between the two sides in 16 matches before this one!

So now attention turns to the trip to Hull who followed that surprise win against Blackburn with a home defeat to Boro on New Year’s Day that left them still deep in trouble at the wrong end of the table.In the same way that the victories at Stoke and Derby have started to correct our away form, I’d expect Leeds to turn them over to record our second ‘double’ of the season.

Prediction: Hull City 0 Leeds United 2

KEITH INGHAM

Well, the home winning run ended on the first day of 2025. It wasn’t surprising as Blackburn boss John Eustace seems to have Daniel Farke’s number, or so it seems, after three wins and a draw over Leeds in their last four games.

Leeds will be annoyed that after taking the lead so late on, they defended a corner so poorly to gift Rovers an equaliser. But we must not forget that the festive period brought 12 points and we’ve increased our lead at the top to three points.

Next up are Hull City who lost in the dying minutes of injury time to Middlesbrough and they will be keen to get back to winning ways against Leeds. There have been many changes in the last few games and some players showed a little tiredness. Surprisingly, one of the stand-out performers against Blackburn was substituted. Manor Solomon was clearly annoyed about coming off whilst Dan James – who had a quieter game – was kept on.

I’d pick Solomon and Willy Gnonto with Mateo Joseph or forgotten man Patrick Bamford to lead the line. I’d like to think there is still enough in the tank after a tough festive period to at least get a point at Hull. Three points would be a massive boost.

Prediction: Hull City 1 Leeds United 1

MIKE GILL

Blackburn Rovers came to Leeds, parked the bus, and then threw away the ignition key!

All the excitement came in the last 10 minutes, and for once, United were unable to hold on to their lead. But a point is a point, and results elsewhere mean that the Whites increased their lead at the top to three points. A short trip east to Hull awaits on Saturday with little time to draw breath, much less take a rest.

The Tigers are having a poor season but have performed a bit better lately, winning twice in December before being narrowly beaten by Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day. New boss Ruben Seles seems to be the reason for the improvement as he replaced the underachieving Tim Walter recently.Walter was appointed in the close season to provide an upgrade to the performance of the previous manager, Liam Rosenior.Hull ended last season in seventh place. Some upgrade!

They sit in 22nd place and face a long battle to keep their Championship status.This will be another hard slog for the Whites, but Hull do not possess the quality of our recent opposition, so I’m going for an ugly win.

Prediction: Hull City 0 Leeds United 1