Key events
6 mins: Davis is found bu Tanzuebe on the left as Ipswich start to settle and pass but Leeds push them back and then break as Summerville releases Spence on the left but it’s cleared. Kieran McKenna is angry at a perceived foul on Chaplin.
5 mins: Ipswich can be prone to conceding early and they’re looking just a touch nervy here in the face of Leeds’s assertive pressing, but they get clear on thge counter through Burns on the right who finds Broadhead on the left but Leeds clear the ball sent in for Chaplin.
3 mins: Leeds knock it about well and James gets clear on the right but his cross for Summerville is blocked and cleared.
1 min: Early excitement as Leeds swarm forward on the counter-press and Rutter puts James clear but he’s fractionally offside.
Peep! And Leeds get us under way, attacking the South Stand end.
Some quick pre-match words from the managers. Daniel Farke says it’s “always crucial to start games well but there’s no guarantee you can against a team also on the front foot like Ipswich. Kieran McKenna says the crowd will Ipswich “just have to focus on executing our details”.
Out come the teams
Elland Road might be a bit in need of a spruce-up these days but it’s still a cracking arena for atmosphere on a big day, and this should be one of those, even if lunchtime kick-offs can sometimes muffle that a little.
Some pre-match reading, on Leeds prodigy Archie Gray:
And a piece Nick Ames did with Ipswich keeper Vaclav Hladky a couple of months back:
The teams are in
Preamble
Has any fanbase among the 92 League clubs had more fun watching football over the past 18 months than Ipswich Town’s? Supporters of Brighton and Wrexham might want to be in that conversation, as I guess would be fans of that team that win almost every competition they enter. But Ipswich have been having an absolute whale of a time, with Kieran McKenna’s exhilarating side romping to a 98-point promotion last season, and following it up this term by settling themselves in the Championship’s top two from the off, demonstrating emphatically that the style that worked in the third tier can do the job at the next level up. Even when dropping points – as they did in last week’s fizzing derby draw with Norwich – Ipswich have offered rich entertainment, supplementing the talents of those that helped them to promotion in 2022-23 – the likes of Conor Chaplin, Wes Burns and Sam Morsy – with well judged new signings such as George Hirst and Massimo Luongo.
But they’ve another tricky task this lunchtime, at a revitalised Leeds. Daniel Farke hasn’t exactly restored the feelgood days of Marcelo Bielsa yet, but after a couple of seasons of drift and confusion culminating in relegation Leeds look like a functioning team again, and are well placed to pounce should either of the top two hit a slump. Theirs is still a team boasting plenty of Premier League quality and experience – Crycensio Summerville, Dan James, Joe Rodon, Luke Ayling et al. Farke has said he will rotate his squad during the busy Christmas period, but is expected to go with his strongest available lineup today.
Ipswich have no fresh injury concerns and McKenna is promising his usual attacking approach at Elland Road. “I think we showed in all three games last week that our preference is always to try and be as aggressive as we can, try and win the ball high up the pitch, try and defend high up the pitch, try and keep possession in the opposition’s half when possible,” he told the East Anglia Daily Times.
It’s third v second, it finished 4-3 between these teams earlier in the season (in Leeds’s favour), and it’s on. I’m looking forward to this and so should you be.
Kick-off: 12.30pm GMT
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