Leeds United vs Derby County 16/05/19

16 May 2019

Leeds United come face-to-face with Derby County at Elland Road for their second-leg play-off encounter, with the visitors facing an uphill task following a 1-0 home defeat back at the weekend.

A narrow victory at Pride Park has brought the hosts’ four-game winless run to a halt (D1, L3), and it was the first time since early April that they’ve managed to keep a clean sheet. Leeds’ defensive problems have seen them concede over 1.5 match goals in three of their last five competitive outings, with the Whites scoring one goal or less across all five of those fixtures. Also, the Peacocks have endured mixed fortunes over their past five home games (W2, D1, L2), as all four of those drawless clashes being settled by a narrow one-goal margin. Notably, Marcelo Bielsa’s men have scored 2+ match goals just once in that span, hitting the net in the second half four times in the process.

A 1-0 defeat in the first leg means that four of Derby’s last five clashes have now featured under 2.5 goals, with only two seeing both teams scoring. The visitors’ disastrous away form (W1, D5, L4) is a major setback for Frank Lampard here, especially given the fact his players have kept just one clean sheet on their last nine road trips. One thing that can comfort Lampard is that the Rams have netted 2+ match goals in three of their previous five away games after scoring only two goals in five road meetings prior. But, Derby have conceded over 1.5 goals per match on four of their last six road trips, which seems to be their main problem at the moment.