England will seek to level the series when they take on Smith-less Australia in the third Ashes Test match that starts at Headingley in Leeds on Thursday (August 22). Australia lead 1-0 in this five-match Test series. 

In the rain affected drawn Test match at Lord's, England put up a good performance and that must have boosted their confidence further. As usual the issue for England is their top order batsmen's form as Jason Roy, Joe Denly, Joe Root and Jos Buttler have been poor with bat so far and selectors have given them one more chance and they have to step up with the bat especially captain Root.

Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow got their form back and will look to score big runs in Leeds. In the bowling, the addition of Jofra Archer has strengthened them further. Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes too have done well so far and spinner Jack Leach too had a good outing at Lord's. 

On the other hand, Australia suffered a big blow as their best batsman Steve Smith will miss this Test due to concussion. David Warner, Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja have failed with the bat so far and in Smith's absence it will take a lot of efforts to turn things around.

Marnus Labuschange who scored a match-saving fifty in the last match will replace Smith at number 4. In the bowling, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon have been good so far and Peter Siddle too has supported them well so far. James Pattinson who was rested for the last Test might replace either Josh Hazlewood or Peter Siddle in playing eleven. 

All the major stats and facts ahead of the third Ashes Test between England and Australia in Leeds 

Head to Head -

At Headingley, Leeds -

Tests - 24, Eng won - 7, Aus won - 9, Drawn - 8

1 - Nathan Lyon needs 1 more wicket to go past Dennis Lillee's tally of 355 wickets and become third leading Test wicket-taker for Australia. 

3 - Stuart Broad needs 3 more wickets to go past Fred Trueman's tally of 44 wickets and become leading Test wicket-taker at Headingley in Leeds. 

9.75 - Australian openers (Warner and Bancroft) have added only 39 runs at an average of 9.75 for the opening wicket across four innings. On the other hand England openers (Roy and Burns) added only 50 runs at an average of 12.50. 

18 - David Warner could manage only 18 runs in four innings of this series. His scores read - 5, 3, 8 and 2. 

27 - Wickets Pat Cummins has taken in Test cricket in 2019 - the most by any bowler in the world. 

2009 - Headingley, Leeds will host its first Ashes Test match since August 2009. In that Test match, Australia registered an innings and 80 runs win. 

4000 - Jonny Bairstow needs 98 more runs to achieve the milestone of 4000 Test runs.