Leeds United in battle with her rivals on massive injury blow ahead of classical fixture but unfortunately they…
The striker has faced Leicester nine times during his career but has only managed to muster one goal and two wins from them.
Leeds United will be without Patrick Bamford for Friday’s clash with Leicester City after the striker was ruled out for another 10 days with a calf injury.
The attacker, who has scored five times this season, missed Saturday’s Championship meeting with Plymouth Argyle with manager Daniel Farke admitting he does not believe he will be fit in time for the visit of the league leaders either.
Bamford has been in encouraging form since the turn of the year, scoring in four of the six Championship matches he has played since New Year’s Day. He missed the midweek 4-0 win over Swansea City due to his issue and his manager does not expect him to return until the club’s FA Cup clash with AFC Bournemouth later this month.
Farke said of Bamford on Friday: “He has some problems with his calf. We don’t expect him to be out for too long. I don’t expect him to be available for Leicester. We think he will be back for the cup game or the league fixture after.”
Bamford has only scored once in his nine career encounters with the Foxes. Meanwhile, left-back Sam Byram and two others are also set to sit out the match with Leicester but Leeds welcome back another defender this week.
Farke added: “Sam (Byram) has hamstring problems and will not be available for this game or Leicester. Jamie Shackleton is back and available to go. It’s good that we have one more. We have Stuart [Dallas] and Pascal [Struijk] out but everyone else is fine.”
I’ve said it before and at risk of repeating myself, this season’s promotion race in the Championship will be one for the ages. You could make a solid argument that the quality throughout the division is not as strong as it has been in some previous years, but that position will hold no water when you turn your attention to the top of the league table.
Leicester City are a Premier League team in all but name given the size and strength of their impressive squad. Southampton have a side that everyone expected to be challenging, such is their own quality, while the likes of Ipswich Town, West Bromwich Albion and even big-spending Hull City boast squads that are worthy of a promotion challenge.
