Birmingham v Leeds predicted lineups: Monk to make two changes but leave Taylor out?

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Leeds United travel to Birmingham City on Friday night, looking to consolidate their position in the Championship play-off places following their win in last weekend’s Yorkshire derby.

To be played on Friday 3rd March 2017 at 19:45. Venue: St. Andrew’s Stadium, Birmingham

Odds: Birmingham 2/1, Draw 9/4, Leeds 13/10

Leeds travel to Birmingham this Friday night looking to strengthen their position within the Championship’s top six following last weekend’s victory in a massive Yorkshire derby with Sheffield Wednesday.

Following a decent performance against the Owls, it would not be a surprise to see Whites boss Garry Monk limit the number of changes heading into the game with Gianfranco Zola’s men.

The main talking point surrounding selection is whether Charlie Taylor comes back into the team after recovering from injury. While the left-back was previously deemed to be a key player for the side, Gaetano Berardi’s form has been incredibly impressive, and means that Monk does not need, or may not want to rush Taylor back.

Therefore, it makes sense to keep faith with Berardi and perhaps give Taylor some minutes later on. However, while a change may not happen in that position, it would not be a surprise if Monk – who will be serving a touchline ban – made a couple further forward.

Leeds United’s Charlie Taylor

Leeds’ weakest players against Wednesday were arguably wingers Hadi Sacko and Souleymane Doukara.

With Stuart Dallas enjoying some better form lately and with Kemar Roofe looking bright when brought on against the Owls when he needed to do nothing other than drive the team forward to alleviate pressure, it may be that Monk turns to those two at St Andrew’s, though one of the loanees may also get handed a rare start.

The partnership between Liam Bridcutt and Eunan O’Kane looked good against Wednesday, and Monk would surely be wise to keep faith with them given how much strength the Blues have in the middle of the park.

Stuart Dallas

In terms of Zola’s men, they have been boasted by Paul Robinson’s red card against Wolves being overturned, though Krystian Bielik did his chances of getting into the team no harm at all with an exceptional display after coming on at Molineux.

Meanwhile, top scorer Lukas Jutkiewicz could come back in following his return to training, at the expense of Che Adams.

Here are the teams that we are expecting to take to the pitch on Friday…