Leeds United go into tomorrow's game against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground having won their last two games against Sheffield Wednesday (2-0) and Luton Town (1-0) respectively.

After a dismal start to the 2016-17 Championship season, Leeds United have seen a vast improvement in their recent results and performances. The stellar side that saw off Sheffield Wednesday looked in no way akin to the hapless outfit that were gunned down 3-0 by Queens Park Rangers on the opening day, and Tuesday's victory over Luton in the EFL Cup second round suggests that Garry Monk is starting to effectively impose his footballing philosophy onto the whole of the squad at Elland Road.

Tomorrow's hosts Nottingham Forest meanwhile have had a relatively mixed start. Philippe Montanier's side ran out 4-3 winners over newly-promoted Burton Albion at the City Ground in their opening game of the season, and they saw off Doncaster 2-1 in the EFL Cup first round away from home in their second outing, but their third match of the season saw them brought back down to reality. Despite victory for the Reds over Burton in the first game, the conceding of three Albion goals was cause for concern, and sure enough, the Nottingham club were given a rude awakening on Matchday Two of the new Championship season by a rampant Brighton side.

An Anthony Knockaert goal combined with a Glenn Murray brace saw Brighton emerge as 3-0 victors. A 1-0 loss at Brentford followed, and since the latter result Forest have won their last two games, 4-3 against Wigan at home, and 2-1 against Millwall away in the EFL Cup second round. Although Montanier's side have won four times already this term, the manner of their victories has been rather unimpressive, with glaringly obvious defensive frailties there for all to see.

Taking Forest's defensive incompetence, and the fact that Leeds pair Chris Wood and Marcus Antonsson are beginning to find their feet as an effective striking partnership into account, you have to feel that there's a chance of it raining goals in Nottingham tomorrow.

Team News

Leeds - Gaetano Berardi is once again expected to miss out due to being afflicted with a hamstring injury at this present time. He is United's only injury concern however, and Garry Monk is expected to ring the changes after fully rotating his side against Luton in midweek. Pontus Jansson made his debut in midweek and the Sweden international could be handed a first Championship start of his career tomorrow.

Forest - Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic could be handed a debut after being brought in from Israeli side Maccabi Haifa to replace Dorus De Vries, who recently departed for Celtic. The 33 year-old made 66 appearances for Maccabi prior to his Forest move, and he has previously represented Serbia at two World Cups as well as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

In other Forest team news, striker Britt Assombalonga is recovering from a hamstring injury and he will likely not be risked. Matty Fryatt Daniel Pinillos, Dexter Blackstock, and Jack Hobbs are all out of contention for a start. Daniel Fox is, like Assombalonga, a doubt.

Media - Monk's selection headache

Leeds head coach Garry Monk has admitted to being faced with something of a selection headache ahead of tomorrow's three o'clock kick-off at the City Ground.

Tuesday night saw a fully rotated starting eleven see off the challenge of League Two side Luton Town, and the satisfactory outcome now means that several additional players are pushing for Championship starts at the present time. As stated above, Gaetano Berardi is Leeds' only injury-hit absentee, and United have no fresh injury concerns ahead of tomorrow's clash.

“Everyone’s good at this moment in time — as it was before Sheffield Wednesday,” Monk told leedsunited.com. “There’s only Berardi that’s injured at the moment, so it’s good news.

“Everyone came through Tuesday unscathed. There were some tired legs towards the end, which is to be expected, but they all came through.

“It’s never easy to pick a team when it’s very competitive. As I have been doing, I’ll look at the opposition and see how we can best affect them, best defend against their strengths and pick a team accordingly.

“As the season goes on, we’ll have a more settled squad. I’m sure the squad will feel more settled once the window closes and understand where it stands — then we can work in an even better way.

“It should always be like that in a squad where there’s competition for places — and healthy competition.

“We’ve got a lot of young players in the squad, which is always good, but sometimes they need a bit of help.

“That’s why we’ve tried to strengthen and we’re looking to strengthen even more just to give that bit of experience and that bit more help to the squad.

“But I can’t complain at all — since I came through the door, everyone’s attitude and desire to do the work and improve has been apparent in every day that I’ve worked with them. We have to continue in that way.”

Leeds travel to Nottingham looking for a third successive victory ahead of the upcoming international break, which will see new England manager Sam Allardyce take command of the Three Lions for the first time against Slovakia on the 4th of September.

Memory Match

This 4-0 victory over tomorrow's opponents at the City Ground in 2011 is a highly memorable one. Club icon Gary Speed tragically left us just days before the game in question, and the Leeds United players and management, along with the fans, paid a fitting tribute to a real footballing man who was adored by so many of us.

Match Facts

Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in seven league games against Leeds, winning four and drawing three.

Leeds have won just twice on their last 20 visits to the City Ground, drawing 11 and losing seven.

Nottingham Forest teenager Oliver Burke has scored three league goals from just four shots on target so far this campaign; already surpassing his goals tally from last season of two.

Swedish striker Marcus Antonsson has scored in two of his first three away games for Leeds in all competitions.

Leeds have registered the joint-fewest shots on target in the Championship so far this season along with Rotherham (eight).

Key Players

Nottingham Forest - Oliver Burke, Right Winger - (7.39 WhoScored rating)

19 year-old Scotsman Burke has scored three goals already this season, with two of those coming against Wigan in his side's recent 4-3 home win over the Latics. The youngster has already surpassed his goals tally for 2015-16 and he'll undoubtedly be looking to better said tally further with more strikes. Pace and dribbling skill are two of his most prominent assets, but his final ball sometimes leaves much to be desired.

Leeds United - Liam Cooper, Central Defender - (7.5 WhoScored rating)

24 year-old Scotland international Cooper has been a defensive rock since coming back into the heart of the Leeds United defence following an injury. Aerially he has been magnificent and his commitment to the cause is exemplary with the former Chesterfield man putting his body on the line for his side every time he takes to the field. His aerial prowess and developing leadership skills will prove key if United are to keep a rampant Forest attack at bay tomorrow.

Writer's View

After two respectable results in a row away from home, we head into tomorrow's clash at Nottingham Forest looking for a third successive victory in all competitions. Recent performances and results have offered hope to an impatient and often critical fan-base and a major contributing factor to those results is the defensive resilience shown in recent matches. The return of Liam Cooper and the capture of Liam Bridcutt on a permanent basis, along with the loan signing of Sweden international Pontus Jansson, are events that have hugely boosted our defensive capabilities. We now have a strong backbone within the side and this is evident when you look at our last few outings.

Opponents Forest have been extremely capable in attack but their defensive showings have left a lot to be desired. As long as we can maintain our defensive solidity whilst being able to pose a substantial counterattacking threat at the same time then I'm firmly confident of another positive result heading into the international break.

Prediction - Nottingham Forest 1-2 Leeds United

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