‘Completely underestimated’ – Sky Sports pundit predicts result of Leeds v Burnley
Sky Sports pundit Lewis Jones predicts Leeds United to lose their meeting with Burnley at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.
Leeds welcome Burnley to West Yorkshire with Sean Dyche’s side in a good run of form.
The Lancashire club are unbeaten in four Premier League matches, winning against Arsenal and Wolves and drawing with Everton and Aston Villa to help move themselves away from the relegation zone after a poor start.
Burnley are now just four points behind 14th-placed Leeds with a game in hand and Sky Sports’ betting expert Jones has tipped the gap to be closed down to one point on Sunday.
He’s predicted a 2-1 win for the Clarets at Elland Road, placing a huge emphasis on their defensive force and Leeds’ weakness at set-pieces.
“The most gung-ho team in Premier League history meet the grisliest one. You couldn’t get two more different styles of playing the art of football,” Jones wrote on the Sky Sports website.
“The purist in me wants the Bielsa-ball to come out on top here but the markets have completely underestimated Burnley’s strengths for this match-up. At 7/2 it’s hard to ignore an away win.
“Leeds have the worst defence in Premier League, conceding 30 goals, including 13 in their last four Premier League games. But the killer statistic that tips me in the favour of a Burnley win is the fact Leeds have conceded the most Premier League goals from set-pieces this season (14).
“Sean Dyche has got his boys back to a performance level more akin to previous seasons with their defensive axis of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski still vastly underrated. For all Leeds’ eye-catching and free-flowing attacking football, Burnley’s defence is a thing of beauty when it comes to keeping out goals.
“They also possess relentless energy in midfield with Josh Brownhill and Ashley Westwood and now have a strike pairing in Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood that are back amongst the goals. Away win.”
Predicting Burnley to win doesn’t shock us
Burnley have lost just two of their last seven meetings with Leeds and have won four of those matches so the history suggests Dyche’s men are favourites.
The Turf Moor team are also in strong form, have a sturdy defence and tall players like Wood and Barnes who’ll be able to take advantage of Leeds’ widely-publicised weakness at set-pieces.
Leeds have had a tough few weeks.
Marcelo Bielsa has seen his side win just two of their last eight Premier League matches and in that run they’ve conceded three goals to Chelsea, four goals to Crystal Palace and Leicester and six goals to Manchester United.
Leeds might be all about their offence but keeping it tight at the back is something they have really struggled with this season.
Robin Koch and Diego Llorente’s injuries are issues while Liam Cooper is a doubt versus the Clarets, which means none of the usual out-and-out centre-backs are available.
It could be a long game on Sunday for Leeds United supporters.
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