League One’s leaders go head-to-head tomorrow in what is probably the divisions biggest game of the season.

Season so far

Leeds United remain undefeated so far, whilst Charlton have lost just one game and sit three points behind Leeds in second. Both teams had a disappointing Tuesday night as Leeds were held to a 1-1 draw by Carlisle United, whilst Charlton were hammered 3-0 away to Colchester.

The growing injury list at Elland Road looks set to rule out Shane Higgs, Leigh Bromby, Ben Parker, Jason Crowe, Rui Marques and Robert Snodgrass. Leeds do have depth though and the last undefeated team in England will be confident infront of an expected crowd of 30,000.

So, what brings you here?  

Charlton Athletic – also known as The Addicks or simply Charlton – are a London team based in the district of Greenwich, formed in 1905 they’ve played their home games at The Valley since 1919.

Charlton have had a bit of a rollercoaster history and finding themselves in the third tier is nothing alien to them. However, not so long ago they were battling against Leeds in the Premier League under the guindance of long-serving manager, Alan Curbishley.

Alan Curbishley left the Addicks in 2006 and with his depature came a serious slump in form that saw Charlton relegated. Despite being touted as favourites to make a swift return to the Premiership, Charlton’s luck didn’t improve. A string of managers came and went, losses of £13,000,000 were reported and the club was relegated again.

Charlton are now managed by former Hull City manager, Phil Parkinson who joined them in 2007 as assistant to Alan Pardew. He took over the role from Pardew late in 2008, but couldn’t save the club from relegation.

Head-to-head

Leeds United and Charlton last met in the Premier League in 2004. An early goal from Holland put Charlton into the lead, but Leeds fought back with goals from Matthew Killgallon, Jermaine Pennant and an Alan Smith penalty giving us a 3-1 lead. Another penalty, this time for Charlton was converted by Euell to make it 3-2 and he scored again minutes later to earn the visitors a point and subsequently relegate Leeds to the Championship.

In the reverse fixture earlier that season, Leeds won 1-0 courtesy of a goal from James Milner, but perhaps the most memorable result was at The Valley in 2003, when we hammered the hosts 6-1. That day, Ian Harte scored a penalty, Harry Kewell scored two and Mark Viduka hit an hattrick.

Overall, our success rate against Charlton is pretty good. Out of the 45 competitive meetings between the teams, Leeds have won 24, lost 14 and drawn 7.  

They also played for Leeds

A few recognisable faces once again in the Charlton line-up including Frazer Richardson who will need no introduction to the Elland Road faithful. Sam Sodje is also applying his trade at The Valley now and the more observant of you may remember Matthew Spring who had a brief spell with us back in 2004-05.

Prediction

It’s a tough one this weekend with so many players out injured. The performance on Tuesday has done little to inspire any confidence in me either, but Charlton’s form seems to have dipped a little too so both teams will be looking to prove themselves.

Quite often, when you’re expecting a thriller, you find that teams cancel one another out and there are few clear cut chances for either side – MK Dons being a prime example of this. The defence looked a bit shaky at times on Tuesday and Casper Ankergren has never convinced me in goal. That said, I think we have enough quality and depth in this side to win matches like this at home and I’d be disappointed with anything less.