Leeds welcome bitter rivals Manchester United to Elland Road for a fascinating Super Sunday match-up. Mark O’Haire previews the Premier League encounter.
“The visitors have suffered only two defeats on their travels and notched in all of their overall road trips”
Leeds well-beaten at Goodison Park
Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa admitted the Whites’ convincing 3-0 reverse at Everton last weekend “was a fair result” as the Yorkshire giants remained six points above the drop zone. Seamus Coleman opened the scoring early on before Michael Keane’s thumping header made it two and Anthony Gordon added the third goal 12 minutes from time.
Leeds carried a threat in patches – Rodrigo‘s stunning efforts hitting the crossbar twice, while Jack Harrison struck wide and Daniel James was almost played in behind on one or two occasions. But the Whites were well beaten, conceding 21 shots from a rejuvenated Toffees team and failing to land a single effort on-target in a disappointing defeat.
Bielsa said: “They were very difficult for us to defend. If you watch the game, you will see it was difficult for us to anticipate their forwards. They attacked better than us. In the second half we defended a little bit better, but we couldn’t manage to attack.”
Stuart Dallas limped out of action is now set for a spell on the sidelines, another blow for Leeds who come into this clash without key players Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper. However, Junior Firpo should slot straight back into the starting XI after recovering from a thigh injury.
Man Utd move into the top-four
Manchester United moved into the Premier League’s top-four with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Brighton at Old Trafford in midweek. Cristiano Ronaldo ended his six-game goal drought in sensational style to break the deadlock and Bruno Fernandes added a second deep into second-half stoppage time to secure maximum points for Ralf Rangnick‘s team.
Just three minutes after the opening goal, Brighton’s task was made much more difficult as skipper Lewis Dunk was sent off after VAR sent referee Peter Bankes to review the defender’s foul on Anthony Elanga. And United could have scored more with Fernandes wasting a glorious chance, before Ronaldo nodded an excellent opportunity wide.
Speaking post-match, Rangnick said: “First half was Mr Hyde, second half Dr Jekyll and for a change it (the result) was different. In the end it was important to get the three points against an in-form team. It should have been 3-0, 4-0 after 75 minutes but there is a bit of lack of assuredness in front of goal.”
United will hope to have Raphael Varane back in the fold after the Frenchman withdrew late on with illness, while Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford dropped to the bench in favour of youngster Elanga and Fred.
Leeds have won just one of their last 16 Premier League games against Manchester United (W1-D5-L10), beating the Red Devils 1-0 at Elland Road back in September 2002. The Whites have fired blanks in their last two home encounters with their bitter rivals and are looking to avoid a league double by Man Utd for the first time since the 1999/00 campaign.
Leeds‘ 4.10 season has been hugely disrupted by injuries to senior players and the Whites’ erratic performances have brought only five Premier League victories this term. Marcelo Bielsa’s men have again struggled against the league’s elite, posting W1-D2-L8 against top-half opposition, conceding multiple goals in eight of nine encounters with the top-eight.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking, Man Utd 1.9520/21 have been quietly accruing consistent points.
The Red Devils have tabled W7-D5-L1 over their past 13 top-flight fixtures, failing to score once and only twice shipping two or more goals in the Premier League.
The visitors have suffered only two defeats on their travels and notched in all of their overall road trips.
Leeds’ unreliable rearguard is a concern for any underdog backer on Sunday. Marcelo Bielsa’s boys boast the second-worst defensive record in the division, and have conceded 26 goals in nine Premier League matches since their last top-flight shutout in November. Eight of those recent nine outings have produced profitable Over 2.5 Goals 1.695/7 punts.
Manchester United haven’t been at their most fluent or clinical best under Ralf Rangnick but the Red Devils have displayed an ability to accumulate points.
The guests have been beaten just twice in 31 away days since the start of last season and look reasonable 2.0811/10 shots on the Bet Builder to beat Leeds on Super Sunday in a match featuring Over 1.5 Goals.
Source: BetFair Tips
