Newcastle United vs Leeds United
Leeds United head up to the North East on Tuesday night for a vital clash with Newcastle United, a match both teams will be desperate to win.
In a full set of top-flight fixtures this week, this Premier League is the match the East side of the country will be watching. It’s a classic of the English game between two of the best supported sides in football.
But passionate fans don’t guarantee success, and Newcastle are on an alarming slide down the table which looks like turning into a desperate fight for survival.
Leeds, on the other hand, have picked up enough wins already to give them an excellent chance of a mid-table finish in their first season back in the Premier League. But while they can’t afford to complacent, there is still work to be done, head coach Marcelo Bielsa wants his team to be looking up rather than down.
Three defeats on the bounce have taken a little of the shine off Leeds’ return to the top flight, but Bielsa won’t be worried, and the Tuesday night match at St James’ Park is an ideal opportunity for the Whites to get back to winning ways.
Talking Points
Bruce’s way isn’t working
The Magpies are sliding into the relegation mire. They are now behind Burnley, who seem to be getting back to their best having recently beaten champions Liverpool.
Newcastle haven’t won in their last ten games and have lost the last five, in all competitions. And while they have a seven-point cushion protecting them from the drop zone, West Brom and more so Fulham have been showing signs they might be able to pull off a great escape.
So these are perilous times for the Geordies, who have failed to score in their last three defeats, while registering just two shots on target in the last 180 minutes of football.
Head coach Steve Bruce is looking visibly more frustrated as the weeks pass by and nine days ago, in the aftermath of handing Sheffield United their first win of the season, he announced that he would ‘do it his way’.
He has made wholesale changes, bringing back towering, but aging, striker Andy Carroll and even the 40m flop Joelinton. Well, so far ‘his way’ has yielded two more defeats and last night a banner appeared outside St James’ Park calling for a change.
I think Newcastle’s best chance of survival is to keep Allan Saint-Maximin fit. The French winger is returning from a COVID-19 absence and though he is injury prone, he is the one player Bruce has who can produce a genuine spark in the gloom.
Chance for Leeds to widen the gap
Bielsa’s team have won new fans this season with an exciting brand of attacking football, and they sit handily in 12th place thanks to seven victories. But their Premier League 2021 results have been inconsistent, losing nine and it’s their ability to turn draws into wins that has served Leeds so well.
They come into the game on a run of three losses, in all competitions, and a recent home defeat to Brighton was a blow, but the Premier League 2021 betting odds here at SBOTOP are backing Bielsa’s side to stop their slide, away to the badly-out-of-shape Magpies.
Patrick Bamford has been a star of the Leeds show with ten goals while Manchester City loanee, Jack Harrison, has five assists and Bielsa will hope to make his move permanent at the end of the season.
But Leeds have conceded 34 goals, the second highest figure in the league, and they will need to show some defensive solidarity while still taking the game to their opponents.
Wing-back Luke Ayling remains a key player alongside captain and centre back Liam Cooper, and against the shot shy Geordies they have a great chance of earning a clean sheet.
History
The Magpies have had the better of the head-to-heads in the Premier League era, winning 13 to Leeds’ seven while there have been eight draws.
Leeds thumped Newcastle 5-2 in December with five players getting on the score sheet, Bamford opening the scoring and Harrison rounding things off with an 88th minute screamer.
Betting Tip
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Newcastle United vs Leeds United | Under 2.75 @ 1.90 |
| January 27, 02:00 (GMT+8) |
Newcastle are at 3.40 to win this game with the draw at 3.49 and Leeds slightly odds on at 1.94.
The Magpies should be fighting for their lives, and they did recently pull off an astounding draw with Liverpool, so I won’t rule out a stalemate here. But the hosts are dreadfully short of quality and confidence. Leeds will be keen to earn a shutout, and an outside bet of 0-1 at odds of 7.22 could reap dividends, while a 1-1 draw at 6.18 is the most likely score-line.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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