Premier League: Leeds Head to the Home of the Champions

Manchester City vs Leeds United

Leeds United’s most challenging run of fixtures in this most challenging Premier League season will take them to the Etihad Stadium to face reigning English champions and current leaders Manchester City this midweek.

Leeds – who suffered yet another crucial injury to a key star – produced another battling performance against European champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge over the weekend, only to miss out on a point after a late penalty.

Meanwhile, Man City are in the midst of another impressive winning run, and the Premier League 2021 betting odds will have them heavily favoured to extend that streak to seven games against the Whites. 

Talking Points

Man City keep marching on

Manchester City extended their current Premier League winning streak to six straight games as they won 1-0 against Wolves over the weekend. It was another dominant performance from City, who had 71 per cent of possession and had a 24-2 shot advantage, 10 of which were on target.

Although, Wolves were down to 10 men for half the game after Raul Jimenez’s sending off just before half-time. And for all of City’s dominance, they still needed a controversial Raheem Sterling penalty to seal the win.

After a tough start to the season, Sterling is suddenly back in top form. He has five goals and an assist in his last eight City appearances.

Meanwhile, midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne is still searching for the form that made him the PFA Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons. The Belgian has not started a Premier League game in over a month as Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, and Bernardo Silva have become Pep Guardiola’s midfield trio of choice.

However, all three started against Watford, so Guardiola is likely to make his usual squad rotations for their midweek match. The likes of De Bruyne, Phil Foden, and Riyad Mahrez are the main contenders to get the start.

City will be keen to improve upon their Premier League-leading home form. They have won six out of their eight games at the Etihad (one draw, one defeat) with 18 goals scored and just three conceded.

Leeds still battling sans Phillips

After picking up a point at the death at home against Brentford, Leeds once again came close to getting a dramatic draw, this time away to European champions Chelsea.

Young Joe Gelhardt made Premier League 2021 highlights as he scored his first career goal for Leeds to equalise seven minutes from time. However, a late Jorginho penalty – his second of the game – gave the Blues the 3-2 win.

It was another battling performance for Leeds, who were playing their first match since losing star midfielder Kalvin Phillips to a significant hamstring injury in the draw with Brentford.

Marcelo Bielsa went with a midfield trio of Jamie Shackleton, Adam Forshaw, and Jack Harrison in Phillips’ absence. Meanwhile, Tyler Roberts played in behind a front two of Daniel James and Raphinha.

With Patrick Bamford – who scored the dramatic equaliser against Brentford – still returning to full fitness, Bielsa could stick with James and Raphinha up front against City for more pace on the counterattack. 

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether the just-returned defender Luke Ayling will be handed a third start in the space of less than two weeks. Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk were both unavailable for the Chelsea match, so Bielsa would have no choice but to start Ayling again at centre-back if the two miss out again.

History

Leeds hold a slim 6-4 edge in Premier League wins over Manchester City, while there have been five draws.

The Whites were one of a few teams who did not lose to champions City last season. They drew 1-1 in their first meeting at Elland Road. They then pulled off a stunning 2-1 win at the Etihad thanks to a brilliant brace by Stuart Dallas. They won despite going down to 10 men after Liam Coopers straight red card.

Betting Tip

	Manchester City vs Leeds United	Under 3.50 Goals @ 1.80
	December 15, 04:00 (GMT+8)

SBOTOP odds have Manchester City priced as massive 1.16 favourites to extend their win streak at home. Leeds have astronomical 18.50 odds to get the upset win, while a draw is at 6.40.

Clearly, Leeds face an uphill battle to get anything against City, who are in terrific form at the moment. The absence of Phillips – and possibly Bamford as well – will deplete an already shallow Leeds squad, while City are overflowing with options at seemingly every position.

Having said all of that, Leeds have shown a lot of steel amid their many setbacks this season. And while they will likely lack the firepower to hurt City, they can still make things tough for the champions and limit the overall goals scored in the game to under four.

 

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