Sheffield Wednesday vs Leeds United – Match Preview – Sheffield Wednesday host Leeds at Hillsborough on Sunday in a Yorkshire derby. With both sides slumping to defeats in midweek, both teams will be desperate to respond with a win.
After their humiliating 4-2 defeat last Sunday against Sheffield United, Wednesday failed to bounce back in midweek. The Owls went down 1-0 at St Andrews as Birmingham took all three points, to give Wednesday back to back defeats for the first time this season. After those two damaging losses, they now sit in 13th place, but are only five points outside the play offs. With the heat firmly cranked up on manager Carlos Carvalhal, he will be desperate for his side to put in a performance on Sunday.
Lucas Joao will be hoping for a starting place Photo credit: skysports.com
After scoring five goals in five games, Gary Hooper’s run came to an end against Birmingham. The striker did have a goal ruled out at St Andrews, when he was incorrectly ruled offside. The Englishman is in great form and Wednesday know if they can supply him the ball, he only needs one chance to grab himself a goal. It’ll be interesting to see who starts upfront with Hooper. Lucas Joao has been knocking on the door after two impressive substitute appearances in the last two games. With Joao offering more pace up top than Steven Fletcher, I think it might be time to throw the Portuguese striker in for his first league start of the campaign.
Leeds suffered their second defeat of the season in midweek, losing 3-1 to league leaders Cardiff. That defeat dropped them down to third, but they’re still only one point off the automatic promotion places. They will be without Captain Liam Cooper for this game, with the Scottish defender picking up a red card in the defeat in Wales. This will be a big blow for them, with Cooper a key reason as to why they have the joint third best defence in the division.
Saiz has been in good form for Leeds Utd Photo Credit: skysports.com
Wednesday have only won two of their last ten games against Leeds, with their last win in January 2016. Leeds have also won on two of their last three trips to Hillsborough, and haven’t conceded against Wednesday in their last two meetings. In those last ten meetings, the two sides have shared 25 goals, with both teams scoring on six of those occasions.
With both sides looking vulnerable defensively in recent matches, I think both teams to score is a good bet. With both sides desperate to improve, I think this one will be a draw. Both teams have in form strikers in the shape of Hooper and Pierre-Michel Lasogga, and I think that the game will end even.
Prediction: Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Leeds United
SKYBET: CORRECT SCORE DRAW 1-1- 9/2
SKYBET: HOOPER AND LASOGGA TO BOTH SCORE- 15/2
SKYBET: SAIZ TO SCORE FIRST AND LEEDS TO WIN 2-1- 50/1
SKYBET: BTTS AND WEDNESDAY TO WIN- 7/2
SKYBET: FLETCHER FIRST TO SCORE AND WEDNESDAY TO WIN 1-0- 22/1
SKYBET: LEEDS TO SCORE IN THE FIRST TEN MINS- 8/1
