Leeds United wrestled control back of the promotion race on Wednesday night when they beat Millwall 2-0 at Elland Road. They are at the summit of the Championship table on 79 points, two ahead of second-placed Sheffield United and four ahead of Burnley, who sit third in the table. The confidence is back around Leeds following the last weekend’s jitters when they lost at Portsmouth. However, a trip to Loftus Road to take on Queens Park Rangers has been a historically challenging affair for the Whites and the referee appointed for the game won’t really please the Yorkshire giants.
The Whites needed the win against Millwall on Wednesday night to calm down a nervous fanbase who were fearing the worst following their draw against West Brom and the defeat at Portsmouth in back-to-back games.
Leeds appear to have taken back control of the automatic promotion race by opening up a two-point lead over Sheffield United and are four clear of the teams outside the top two.
They would want to get into next week’s international break, where there is set to be at least one surprising call-up for a Leeds player, with another win under their belt and a position at the top of the Championship table secure and consolidated.
However, a trip to Loftus Road awaits them this weekend, which has been a challenging away game for Leeds for a while now and getting a win over QPR is not a given.
It was already shaping up to be another challenging trip to London but the EFL seems to have made it harder by appointing a referee who hasn’t been great for the Whites.
Leeds United have a patchy record when this referee has been in charge
The EFL have announced the appointment of Tim Robinson as the match official for Leeds’ trip to Loftus Road to take on Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
The 41-year-old is an experienced official and has even been in charge of Premier League games since 2023. He has been a referee in the EFL for around 14 years.
He has also refereed several games involving Leeds but the Whites have a patchy record when he has been in charge of a fixture.
Robinson has been in charge of 18 games involving Leeds but the Whites have only won seven of those fixtures, losing six in the process.
It is not the worst record for a team involving one referee, but it is not going to inspire confidence ahead of a tough trip to Loftus Road on Saturday.
Leeds had several issues with the referee on Wednesday night where the team were at the wrong end of a tight offside call and they had legitimate claims for a penalty.
Robinson’s appointment will come under scrutiny as pressure increases in the promotion race and Leeds supporters will take a close look at his performance at QPR.
And let’s not even talk about Leeds’ record at Loftus Road
QPR are sitting 14th in the Championship standings, nine points clear of the relegation zone and are battling to ensure they don’t get sucked into the dogfight below them.
On paper, Leeds should be beating Marti Cifuentes’ side given the gulf in quality between the two teams but one look at their record at Loftus Road should make the supporters wary.
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Daniel Farke suffered the worst defeat of his Leeds tenure towards the back end of last season when his side were battered 4-0 at Loftus Road.
The win was a massive boost for QPR’s survival hopes and it pushed them away from the relegation zone last season.
Leeds have lost in their last four trips to QPR and while they beat them at home earlier in the season, the Whites have not won at Loftus Road since December 2017.
