Two of the Championship’s in-form sides, and arguably two of the biggest clubs in England, go head-to-head in Sunday’s clash.
Leeds had got off to a pretty bad start to the season under their new manager Garry Monk with just one win in six matches; however, the Whites have been on the rise since mid-September with seven wins in 10 matches and their recent run has certainly been good enough to write home about with three victories on the bounce.
It was Leeds’ home form that was keeping them towards the bottom of the league at the beginning of the campaign but they are now undefeated in their last five matches at Elland Road – winning five of them.
After his time at Swansea, we tend to associate Garry Monk with free-flowing attacking football. However, in Yorkshire he has based his tactics on great defensive organisation with Leeds conceding just 17 goals in 16 matches which is the best record among the play-off sides.
Additionally, the Whites have only conceded twice or more on one occasion in their last eleven matches. Having said that, the attacking third has been a bit of a problem for Leeds with just 19 goals scored this season whilst they have only scored three or more on one occasion so far this campaign.
If they can get their forward line firing again then there is no reason why Leeds cannot reclaim their place in the top flight which they last had in 2004.
With such a large budget for this level, it is no surprise that Newcastle United are top of the table and five points ahead of second place Brighton. It will take a disaster for the Toon not to get promoted as champions this season.
Relegated sides are so often not prepared for the rough and rigours of the Championship (as we saw with Wolves back in 2012/13), however, Rafa Benitez has ensured that his side do not think themselves as better than the competition and made sure they are up for the fight.
Newcastle spent a lot of money on attacking talent this summer and this has come to fruition with summer signing Dwight Gayle currently the division’s top scorer with 11 goals to his name whilst the club themselves have found the back of the net an incredible 34 times in just 16 matches. Their defence may not be the best but quite frankly that is no concern when you are as good in the final third as they are.
The away side are the favourites here and I would have to agree with the bookies. The good thing for punters is that the price is actually a decent one, and, in their excellent recent form, ‘Newcastle to Win’, at 23/20, is a bet to be on. Although the Yorkshiremen are in good form, this is Newcastle and I think it would perhaps be a bit foolhardy to not back a team who have won their last eight games on the spin.
With Garry Monk’s Leeds side in such good form, my other two tips are more neutral in terms of the match result. The first of which is ‘Both Teams to Score’ at 10/11. Although Leeds may not be the biggest scorers, they are on a good run and have to be fancied to threaten at home. Additionally they have an in-form striker in New Zealander Chris Wood who could cause the Newcastle back-line, which has not kept a clean sheet in either of their last two matches, a few problems. Regarding Newcastle, they are just immense going forward and they should be capable of scoring, probably more than one, in this match.
The second is ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ at 11/10. I am expecting Newcastle to score at least two goals with their firepower whilst, as previously mentioned, I feel Leeds could easily grab a goal at Elland Road. With both teams likely to score on Sunday, goals really do look on the agenda.
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