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Key events
29 min: Gudmundsson floats a poor cross in from the left. Easy for Kinsky, who has had absolutely nothing to do so far.
28 min: Spurs have enjoyed 77 percent of possession in the last five minutes.
27 min: Kudus gets the chance to shoot now, though. He drifts infield from the right and shoots. Another one straight at Trafford. Spurs are beginning to create things.
26 min: That was a great run by Tel, who appears to have finally blossomed after that wonder goal against Chelsea.
25 min: Tel advances down the left at speed, one-twoing with Gray before laying off to Marmoush, who scuffs a shot straight at Trafford. A disappointing end to a slick move, especially as Kudus was free to Marmoush’s right, waiting for the killer pass.
24 min: Kudus diddles his way down the right in style, cuts back, then swings a dangerous ball into the mixer, forcing Trafford to punch clear under purple pressure. He does so with authority.
22 min: Longstaff steps across Fernandes and earns the second yellow card of the afternoon.
21 min: The pace drops, as does the volume in Elland Road. Spurs will be more than happy with all of that.
19 min: A long ball down the middle is contested by Marmoush, who looks to have been dragged down by Elvedi, but gets nothing from the referee. Justin was nearby, so Elvedi wasn’t the last man, but it should have been a free kick in a dangerous position. If nothing else, the officials are equal-opportunity inept.
17 min: Tonali plays a cute ball round the corner, hoping to release Porro down the right. Not quite. Goal kick. Porro is looking lively, though, and soon after he comes again, his long cross miscontrolled by Tel, just inside the Leeds box on the left. Had Tel killed that, it would have been a big one-on-one chance.
15 min: Bogle spins Van de Ven, who was too tight to his man. The Spurs captain grabs at Bogle, and goes into the book as a result.
14 min: Porro makes ground down the right and he’s got options in the Leeds box. He floats a poor cross straight into the hands of Trafford. Uncharacteristically meh from the world champion.
12 min: Roberto De Zerbi is already at the edge of his technical area, frowning quite a lot. Spurs haven’t put anything together yet.
10 min: The xG is currently 0.01 to 0. Something quite pleasing about that. Not sure what.
9 min: Gudmundsson knocks the ball past Porro on the left, wins the footrace with ease, then cuts back for Ampadu, who skies a shot from long distance. This is an impressive start by Leeds.
8 min: Tanaka drags a shot wide right. Then Gudmundsson wins a corner down the left. Longstaff takes; Kinsky claims. Leeds only turned up after the three-minute mark, but they’re here now, and they’re pushing Spurs back.
6 min: VAR waves away the penalty appeal. They’re making it up as they go along, kids, as anyone who watched last night’s Everton-Coventry fiasco will attest. Fernandes was leaning into that, unnecessarily so, and the ball hit his arm. The VAR has done Spurs a solid there.
4 min: A cross into the Spurs box from the left. The ball pings off Fernandes’s outstretched right arm. VAR will want a look at this. Why did Fernandes hang his arm out like that?!
2 min: Spurs keep hold of the ball for the first minute and 45 seconds. Eventually Trafford claims it. A calm, confident start by the visitors.
A different fanfare for the common man – the Last Post – sounds poignantly. Silent, solemn remembrance of the fallen. After which Tottenham Hotspur get the ball rolling.
The teams emerge from the tunnel, so …
Leeds are in their Revie-approved white, so Spurs are forced into third-choice purple. It won’t be long now.
Pre-match postbag. “Hands up who had Tottenham challenging for Europe and Manchester United challenging for the, er, Championship on their 25%-of-the-season-gone bingo card? No, me neither” – Dave Estherby
“Let’s just nip this talk of Tottenham rounding into form in the bud, shall we? Three wins on the bounce is nice until you take a closer look at them. Coventry: ‘nuff said. Chelsea: missing Joao Pedro, and with a dreadful tactical setup in response. Crystal Palace: down a man before the match before the match was a quarter-hour old. You need a fair glob of polish to put a proper gloss on that run” – Eric Peterson
Roberto De Zerbi’s turn to chat with TNT. “We keep going … keep pushing … a tough game for us … a tough game for them because we are in a good moment … every game starts nil-nil … we have to work hard if we want to win … [Pedro Porro] can bring everything … he is a fantastic guy, a fantastic player … [Archie Gray, who moves from right-back to midfield] deserves to play because he’s playing very well … I am sorry for [substitute] Conor Gallagher because he deserves to play as well.”
Daniel Farke speaks to TNT Sports. “Spurs are normally dominant in possession so you need to find some solutions in order to be competitive … Sean [Longstaff] is smart … a bit like a third midfield player to control their processes … today is a chance for [Lukas Nmecha] to shine … we want to be dangerous today and score.”
Leeds can leap to eighth place with a win today. Technically they can make seventh, but they’d need to win this game by seven goals, so come off it and come on. Meanwhile should Spurs win a fourth consecutive Premier League game for the first time in over three years, they can make their way up to sixth, but they’d need a two-goal winning margin to ensure that.
Tottenham make one change from last weekend’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Pedro Porro replaces the benched Dominic Solanke.
Leeds have made two changes in the wake of their 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth. Sean Longstaff, starting for the first time this calendar year, and Lukas Nmecha come in for Harry Wilson and Daniel James, who both drop to the bench.
The teams
Leeds United: Trafford, Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic, Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson, Longstaff, Nmecha, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Zetterer, Rodon, James, Wilson, Aaronson, Bijol, Okafor, Bard, Gruev.
Tottenham Hotspur: Kinsky, Porro, van Hecke, van de Ven, Robertson, Gray, Tonali, Kudus, Fernandes, Tel, Marmoush.
Subs: Gunter, Senesi, Gallagher, Maddison, Solanke, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Davies, Williams-Barnet.
Referee: John Brooks
VAR: Tony Harrington
Preamble
So after all that time, Roberto De Zerbi’s team can finally feel some wind rippling their sail. They’ve just reeled off three consecutive Premier League wins, against Coventry, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, though it’s mainly the one against Chelsea that’s really got them going. Throw in a draw at Old Trafford which really should have been a comfortable win, and it feels a long time ago now when they were three goals down at home to Aston Villa, and folk were beginning to wonder when De Zerbi was going to blow. Everyone happy in N17!
Leeds meanwhile are hardly in a bad spot, comfortable in 12th, with only two defeats suffered so far. But both of those losses have come in the last four games, a run that’s yielded just two points, and the early-season excitement of unexpectedly strong progress under Daniel Farke has dissipated a wee bit. They could do with a momentum-recovering result this lunchtime.
All of which means Spurs go into this game with higher expectation … and that’s before you fold in the recent record between these teams. Spurs have won five of their last six meetings, drawing the other, to the cumulative tune of 17-7; they’ve won on all of their last three visits to Elland Road, the running score of those, 10-2, even more impressive. But winning runs are there to be snapped, which is what Leeds did by drawing in north London back in May, so everyone has hope. Kick-off is at 12.30pm GMT. It’s on!
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