Leeds United take on Sunderland this evening, aiming to beat another play-off contender after seeing off Blackburn Rovers away from home last time out.
The Whites have been in tremendous form of late, but they have done little in the way of bridging the gap to the top two.
A challenging fixture awaits both Leeds and Ipswich Town this week as Daniel Farke’s men travel to Sunderland, while Ipswich take on Watford away from home.
| Position | Club | MP | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Leicester City | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 49 |
| 2 | Ipswich Town | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 48 |
| 3 | Leeds United | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 41 |
| 4 | Southampton | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 38 |
| 5 | West Brom | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 32 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
Sunderland vs. Leeds preview: Archie Gray to start
Sam Byram has been ruled out for three weeks by Farke in his pre-match press conference, sharing that we are not going to see the right-back until the new year, as he was forced off in the second half at Ewood Park.
Djed Spence came on to replace him at left-back, while Archie Gray kept his place on the right, where he got his first ever senior assist through a delightful give-and-go with Georginio Rutter before slipping a first-time pass to
Crysencio Summerville, with the outside of his boot:
Gray faces huge test against Jack Clarke
Up next for Gray is the toughest battle yet of his senior career, coming up most likely against Sunderland’s star player, Jack Clarke.
The former Leeds academy graduate looks to be one of the best players in the Championship this term, winning matches on his own for the Black Cats.
Described as a “super talent” by former Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray, Clarke has run full-backs ragged this season with the refined quality that plenty at Elland Road knew he would be capable of in the future, after his burst onto the scene under Marcelo Bielsa didn’t lead to a breakthrough at Tottenham.
Gray has done very well to shackle some very good players this season, including Leicester City’s Stephy Mavididi, Bristol City’s Sam Bell, and others, but Clarke is arguably the best winger that isn’t Leeds’ number 10.
He stands on 10 goals and one assist so far, one more goal than Leeds’ Summerville, but with five fewer assists.
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