Two teams who’re both pushing for promotion to the top flight of English football via the play-offs go head-to-head on Tuesday as Leeds travel to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.
When Gary Monk took over at Leeds back in June, few people would’ve expected him to have turned this side into a serious promotion contender in such a short space of time, but, as things stand, Leeds are looking strong and are currently right at the front of the queue for a place in the play-offs.
In terms of recent form, both of these two come into this match in good shape, in terms of both winning matches and scoring goals. Considering that both are looking good in the attacking third, defence could be the key – whoever keeps things tighter is likely to profit. On this basis, there really is only one team to side with.
Leeds are a far securer unit than Fulham and, given the hosts obvious frailties, the visitors should do well here. At the prices, it’s very hard to fancy Fulham. Backing the visitors at 14/5 certainly wouldn’t be the worst bet; however, at 2/1, ‘Leeds Draw No Bet’ looks a steal and is absolutely the way to go.
After what was a slight wobble not so long ago, Leeds could easily have dropped out of the chasing pack, but Monk’s men have shown excellent resilience to bounce back and go unbeaten in their last four matches, winning three of those. The visitors are once again thriving, playing well, scoring goals and giving little away. Monk seems to have his men well drilled and in Chris Wood (league’s top-scorer) Leeds have a centre-forward in a rich run of form.
Fulham are also a team in form right now and they too are scoring goals. However, the hosts have almost been caught out by their inability to keep teams at bay on a number of occasions lately and could struggle to come out on top if defending anything like they have been against a very astute Leeds outfit. Slaviša Jokanović’s men are without a clean sheet in their last five and have conceded no less than nine goals during that time.
The Cottagers may well have found the net an eye-catching 13 times during their last five matches, but they have had the luxury of facing some of the Championship’s worst defences and are likely to find it much tougher against a Leeds back-line who’ve conceded the fifth-lowest number of goals in the entire division.
In addition, the ultra-attacking style employed by the hosts – a style which has both helped and hindered Jokanović’s side at times – might just play into the hands of the visitors here. Leeds have often thrived when playing on the counter – their latest 3-1 victory away at Birmingham was a fine example of this.
All things considered, we’re talking about two decent sides, both of whom have the ability to continue with their respective assaults, but, when they meet on Tuesday night, there’s reason to feel upbeat about the visitors’ chances.
At the prices, it appears as though Leeds have been very much underestimated and, therefore, ‘Leeds Draw No Bet’ makes a lot of sense.
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