Leeds United host Aston Villa in the Championship on Friday night in a game that pits two play-off hopefuls against each other.
The game at Elland Road pits two of the Championship’s promotion hopefuls against each other, with Villa currently fourth in the table while Thomas Christiansen’s men find themselves eighth – three points back of the top six.
Leeds go into the game off the back of two victories in their last three fixtures – beating Middlesbrough and Barnsley either side of a defeat to league leaders Wolves – but Villa have won their last three and have only lost twice since the end of August. And goalkeeper Johnstone is hoping that their recent form leaves Leeds slightly intimidated going into their meeting.
“If you are full of confidence it is a different game. We will be up for it, hopefully we can get three points.”
Christiansen will surely not be allowing his players to believe that Villa should be favourites for the game as they will need to be at their best if they hope to get the better of Bruce’s men.
If Leeds manage to play with the same determination that saw them beat Boro and Barnsley, they will surely be in with a fantastic chance of repeating last season’s meeting between the two at Elland Road, which saw the Whites run out 2-0 winners.
Villa are a much better team this year than they were last season however, so Leeds will surely have to raise their game if they want to end Villa’s impressive recent run. But if Christiansen’s men want to get back into the play-off places and stay there throughout the season, these are undoubtedly the kind of games they should be looking to win.
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