We have a bonus match in the Premier League on Tuesday evening as two sides catch up with the majority of the division when Leeds United host Southampton in what looks on paper to be an entertaining contest at Elland Road.
Both these sides begin the evening in the bottom half of the table but neither have any immediate relegation so they should be able to play with some freedom and keep us entertained during another evening of lockdown.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live across the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels. The build up to the clash begins at 5.30pm with the match kicking off at 6pm.
Leeds United
We all know by now that Leeds United are one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the league and whether they can’t take a backward step or just refuse to, we are always seeing them on the front foot and playing a style that every football fan can enjoy watching. That opens up a vulnerability as we saw against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday night but at the same time it has earned them 10 wins already in their first campaign back in the Premier League.
By the nature of their style, Marcelo Bielsa’s charges score a lot of goals but they concede plenty as well. The one concern I’ve had with Leeds for a while has been their home form. They won their last home match but that was against a woeful Crystal Palace side on the night so I’d like to see another convincing performance from them on home soil before I fully trust them at Elland Road, but they are not the odds on shots they’ve been in recent home games.
Southampton
This has been a very topsy turvy season for Southampton. The first half of it they were one of the better sides in the Premier League and dreaming of Europe. They were certainly playing top six football and everything looked rosy, however almost out of nowhere they have completely slumped. The Saints lost six matches on the spin including that devastating 9-0 loss to Manchester United, before ending that disastrous run with a draw against Chelsea at the weekend.
Two things have contributed to that run. The main one has been the incredible amount of injuries that they have picked up along the way. Their side has been decimated at times and understandably they don’t have the depth to cope with that. The other thing which has gone against them has been some extremely questionable refereeing decisions which have stopped them in their tracks. The old saying suggests that they even themselves out so Southampton are certainly due some decisions in their favour.
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Team News
Leeds United will be without their talisman in the centre of the park in England international Kalvin Phillips. Another international who is unavailable for them is Rodrigo but Diego Llorente could be in line to start the match.
Southampton are definitely without the likes of Kyle Walker-Peters and Theo Walcott for the trip to Elland Road but Ralph Hasenhuttl has suggested there is an outside chance that Stuart Armstrong could be fit to feature having missed the match with Chelsea at the weekend.
Betting
It is hard to trust either of these sides. Leeds United aren’t massively convincing at Elland Road at the minute and are missing a huge player in Kalvin Phillips while Southampton haven’t won in seven and look fragile so rather than put blind faith in something I don’t trust I’ll take a couple of bigger priced speculative bets for the contest, the first of which is to see Leeds win from behind. In recent weeks Southampton have surrendered leads against Arsenal and Wolves and lost and their advantage over Chelsea at the weekend was wiped out and there were times they were hanging on. Saints haven’t won for a while so they might need to fall over the line when they do. Leeds are the sort of side you have to play for the full 90 against but the energetic pressing style Southampton have can leave them exposed in the last 20, especially with all the injuries meaning they have to bring inexperienced or lesser players off the bench. Leeds to win from behind is just under 10/1 and against a team who have coughed up 18 points from winning positions Leeds look overpriced to win from behind.
The other bet that is worth a punt is for Jannik Vestergaard to score anytime for Southampton. It has been highlighted all season how bad Leeds are at defending set pieces and although they have improved a bit in that regard in recent weeks, they haven’t had the accuracy of James Ward-Prowse picking out players in the box. Vestergaard has already notched three times this season and thumped the bar against Chelsea at the weekend so he is a huge threat when he goes into the opposition box. You can get 17/2 on him finding the back of the net which looks a little big to me given his strengths and the Leeds weakness.
Tips
Back Leeds to win from behind for a 1/10 stake at 10.50 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Back J.Vestergaard to score anytime for a 1/10 stake at 9.50 with Bet365
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