It is judgement day for Leeds United on Sunday (4.30pm). The time is now to save themselves and remain in the Premier League. Can the hosts get the result that they need to give themselves a chance of survival? Or will visitors Spurs send them back to the Championship. This LUFC vs THFC preview, with betting tips, aims to clarify.
After drawing with Newcastle under the watchful eye of new boss Sam Allardyce, Leeds had the chance to make their final-day task a little less daunting last weekend, as they travelled to East London take on West Ham. Everything was going swimmingly when Rodrigo poked home to give the Whites an early lead, though that initial promise soon faded and we once again saw why the strugglers are where they are in the table. Poor defending cost them, yet again. They are now in the position of needing nothing less than a win on the final day, and even then, it may not be enough.
Worse for the hosts still, the visitors have something to play for too. Ryan Mason’s men will arrive at Elland Road knowing that they need to return with all three points to stand a chance of playing in Europe next season. They too could have made life easier for themselves last weekend, but much like Leeds, after a promising start and an early goal from the ever-present Harry Kane, they let themselves down, eventually losing by three goals to one against an impressive Brentford side.
Hanging on at home
If this fixture was at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it would be hard to fancy Allardyce’s men, but they have shown just about enough at home of late to suggest that they could get a result.
Sure, they could not quite beat Newcastle last time out at Elland Road, but they did go toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the division, causing them plenty of problems. Had Patrick Bamford scored from the spot to give them a two-goal lead early in the first half, then they may well have got the job done.
They did take a couple of heavy defeats at home prior to that, which is a bit worrying, but the visitors are not exactly in firing form, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too concerned by those results against Liverpool and Crystal Palace. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Sunday’s hosts were holding off Brighton at home. A similar level of effort here could easily see them beat an underperforming Spurs side.
Spurs struggling on the road
Tottenham, the visitors, come into this match in awful away form, there is no other way of putting it.
In their most recent away game, a late goal from their shining light Kane made the scoreline a little better, but they were once again poor, just as they were at Anfield before that. Sure, they scored a few goals on that occasion, but defensively they were a shambles, which has been a common theme on the road for some time.
Prior to losing away against Liverpool, Spurs were royally embarrassed on Tyneside, conceding no less than six goals en route to what was their worst defeat in some time. Mason’s men will turn up to Elland Road on Sunday afternoon having not kept an away clean sheet since shutting out Championship side Preston back in January.
High-scoring games commonplace
Ever since Leeds returned to the Premier League in 2020, this fixture has consistently produced goals. When the pair met earlier in the current campaign, they played out a seven-goal thriller, with Spurs coming out on top by four goals to three. Each of the five Premier League renewals of this fixture since 2021 have produced at least three goals.
Of those five, Tottenham have won four, with Leeds winning once, though that victory did come at Elland Road late in the 20/21 campaign. Could lightning strike twice and save Sunday’s hosts?
Hosts LUFC can hurt wounded Spurs
Goals all round are expected by the bookmakers ahead of this fixture, and layers certainly aren’t giving anything away in terms of ‘Total Goals’ prices. However, a goal-related bet that stands out at the early odds is ‘Leeds to Score Over 1.5 Goals’.
This may be the end of this current Premier League journey for Leeds, but they are backed to give themselves a fighting chance of survival by scoring a few goals here. After all, we know that they carry a significant attacking threat, and in truth, they always have since returning to the top division.
The visitors have floundered hugely at the back, and it’s become more and more clear as the season goes on that with mistake-prone players such as Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez and Clement Lenglet, they lack the defensive personnel to compete. That cost them last week against Brentford, so we shouldn’t be surprised if we see something similar here. Let’s not forget that visitors have conceded two or more in each of their last three on the road, conceding an awful total of 12 goals during that time.
Spaniard could save hosts
If Leeds are going to get the result that they need, then it is almost guaranteed that Rodrigo will play a huge part. When fit, the Spaniard has been their best player this season, and he has certainly carried the biggest goal threat, scoring 13 times in the Premier League. That is very good given that he’s only made 30 appearances for a relegation-threatened side.
Against a struggling Spurs back-line, it won’t be surprising if the man who averages 0.63 goals per 90 minutes, plus 3.12 shots per game, gives the hosts a chance by once again finding the net. So these are our Leeds vs Tottenham betting tips for this crucial EPL game preview:
- Leeds to score over 1.5 Goals @ a best price of 11/10 with Betfred.
- Rodrigo to score at any time @ biggest odds of 13/8 with Bet365.
Bradley Gibbs is an experienced football writer. He is an expert analyst on Premier League, and all global football leagues & tournaments, for Just Bookies. Bradley has been published by many respected outlets, including USA Betting and the Racing & Football Outlook. He has also written betting strategy guides.