England Premier League
Wednesday 28th December 2022
Kick off at 8pm GMT
Venue: Elland Road
Match Preview:
Manchester City could find themselves 8 points shy of Arsenal coming into this game if the Gunners have won on Boxing Day, either way City need to find their rhythm and brutal consistency if they are going to give Mikel Arteta’s side a run for their money this season.
At times City have looked brilliant but for a month before the break even when they were picking up points they were not putting in convincing performances and they have lost 2 of their last five games. One was away to Liverpool so hardly the worst result ever but manager Pep Guardiola would have been expecting to beat Brentford at home in their last game, but they were defeated 2-1. City played last week in the Carabao Cup and got a terrific result as they beat Liverpool 3-2, with both sides putting out strong sides. That man Erling Haaland was on the score sheet again and many will be expecting the Norwegian who sadly missed out on the World Cup to get more goals in this game. Still not having to play in it surely will work in City’s favour and he will be less fatigued. He could well score more goals than the highest goalscorers of last season by the end of this year too and he will be absolutely relishing playing again.
Currently away form for City’s standards is not the greatest with a 50% win rate although they have still picked up 11 points from 18. City also won their last away game which came against Leicester in a 1-0 win.
Leeds are in 15th place and have 15 points and they could well get sucked into a relegation battle. They have lost half of their games so far and lost 3 of their last five games. Their last match ended in defeat to Tottenham but involved seven goals as they went down 4-3. At home they have won 3, drawn 2 and lost 2 but those two defeats have come in their last 3 games here falling to Arsenal and Fulham. They did beat Bournemouth in their last home game in another seven goal classic winning 4-3.
Worried about not playing during the World Cup break the club set up 3 friendly games. They won two as they beat Elche and Real Sociedad but lost against Monaco 4-2 in their last game.
Team News:
Leeds: Tyler Adams is suspended after being sent off in his last match. Patrick Bamford will be assessed due to fitness issues but is being tipped to be ready. Stuart Dallas is still out with a leg injury and is not expected back for at least three weeks. Archie Gray is out for the same amount of time but with his ankle. Mateusz Klich should recover from illness and Jack Harrison is expected back from a groin injury. Rodrigo will face a late call with his hamstring.
Manchester City: Kalvin Phillips remains a doubt with fitness issues. Ruben Dias has a hamstring injury and reports suggest he will miss the next two weeks at least. Julian Alvarez is expected to miss this game after the World Cup but should be back for the next match.
Leeds vs Man City Head to Head:
Last season this fixture finished 4-0 to Manchester City.
Manchester City have scored 11 goals against Leeds in their last two meetings and conceded 0 goals.
5 of the last six meetings have seen over 2.5 goals.
Leeds vs Man City Prediction:
Leeds injury list looks worse than it really is as most are expected to return so that shouldn’t that be a huge concern for them on that front. But this will obviously be a very difficult game for the club even at home. Last season they were simply blown away by City although that was under Marcelo Bielsa and his free flowing tactics, and Marsch will try and keep his defence focused and the game tight. We don’t see past a City victory though and the key here will be to score early.
City have been solid this season without being great and time and again they have started slowly only to power on in the latter half of games. As they found out against Brentford that method doesn’t always work and it must be frustrating for Guardiola to see his team only really come to life in the second half. Still this will feel like a new chapter in the season and the players will be relishing to put on the City shirt as champions and try to win the league for a third time in a row. As expected City are odds on favourites but there is a lot to choose from here and we will look into different markets.
Leeds vs Man City Betting Tips:
Half time result (Man City) at 1.68
Erling Haaland to score at 1.52
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