Leeds United vs West Brom betting tips: Hazardous defending to make for a Friday night thriller
- George Dempsey
- 17 August 2023
Leeds United will be hoping to secure their first win of the Championship season when they host West Bromwich Albion under the lights at Elland Road on Friday.
Leeds United will go in search of their first win in the Championship when they welcome West Brom to a packed Elland Road on Friday night.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Championship, Friday, August 18, Kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event
Predicted score
Leeds United 2-2 West Brom
Championship betting tips
Bet: Over 2.5 goals
Bet: Both teams to score
Leeds United vs West Brom team news
Leeds United should persist with a 4-2-3-1 headlined by Ethan Ampadu and Archie Gray in midfield, while Cody Drameh could replace Luke Ayling at the back.
Joe Rodon may be handed his first start in the heart of defence while Willy Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra's controversial absences mean Ian Poveda and Dan James will feature again.
Adam Reach (muscle) and Daryl Dike (achilles) are still unavailable for the visitors and could be joined by Josh Maja, Martin Kelly and Grady Diangana.
Brandon Thomas-Asante is likely to continue up front with chief creator Jon Swift behind him and previously Leeds-linked Jayson Molumby in deep midfield.
Leeds United vs West Brom betting preview
Elland Road will be no place for the faint-hearted on Friday night, as the winless Whites welcome ex-manager Carlos Corberan and his West Brom side.
The natives are growing extremely restless after a mass loan exodus, Willy Gnonto's refusal to play, question marks over Luis Sinisterra and a perceived lack of transfer activity.
The Baggies put back-to-back losses behind them last weekend as they beat Swansea City 3-2 at The Hawthorns, nearly letting a 3-0 lead slip late on.
A pair of 2-1 losses to Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers prior to that, coupled with the win over the Swans, were punctuated by Albion giving up a high volume of good chances.
They've been so sloppy and wide open in the opening weeks of this season that they've allowed their opponents 11 opta-defined big chances across three matches.
They've been outscored on xG in all three matches and their games have produced a combined total of 81 shots for an average of 27 per game.
In contrast, Leeds' dour 1-0 defeat at Birmingham produced just four shots in the first half, none of which were on target.
They looked better in their home games against Cardiff City and Shrewsbury Town, but still looked fragile at the back and trailed 2-0 and 1-0 from three combined efforts at goal.
Both teams have looked a threat to themselves in possession at times this season, but neither will hesitate to push numbers forward and both look as threatening on the break as they do susceptible to the opposition's counter.
Whether it's through moments of quality or haphazard defending, it seems inevitable that this game will be full of chances and quite possibly goals.
The bookmaker's pricing of this Friday night matchup seems to unfairly lean towards a low-scoring match, which we don't expect based on the evidence of what we've seen so far.
