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Mark Lawrenson predicts Leeds v Chelsea
Mark Lawrenson predicts Leeds United to beat Chelsea at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.
Leeds have found themselves in poor form as of late with Marcelo Bielsa’s men losing four of their last five Premier League matches.
However, the same cannot be said about fourth-placed Chelsea, who are flying under new manager Thomas Tuchel and are unbeaten in 11 matches across all competitions.
Chelsea have lost six times in the Premier League this season and all of those defeats have come to teams who are among the traditional big six or currently occupy the top six.
But Liverpool legend Lawrenson claims Leeds can put a huge dent in Chelsea’s bid to qualify for the Champions League at the weekend, predicting the home side will win 2-1 at Elland Road.
“Chelsea are going great guns – they are now unbeaten in 11 games since Thomas Tuchel took charge, and they were just too good for Everton on Monday night,” wrote Lawrenson on the BBC Sport website.
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“Leeds, in contrast, have not been on a great run of form recently, with just one win in five league games. I don’t think they’ve been playing that badly though, and they will definitely test Chelsea’s improved defence.”
Huge if it happens
Leeds have a very testing match on the horizon against a Chelsea team who have gone from strength to strength since Tuchel replace Frank Lampard in the Stamford Bridge dugout.
Chelsea’s defence has arguably had the biggest improvement with the Blues conceding just once in their last five league outings.
Leeds have the ability to test that defence, however.
According to stats by Wyscout, only Manchester City [59.8] have a higher xG than Leeds [51.2] in the Premier League this season. The Yorkshire club also ranks fifth for shots at goal [360].
Chelsea, however, have the lowest xGA [24.7] in the league with their defence performing well under Lampard but even better with Tuchel in charge.
It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object at Elland Road on Saturday but there’s no doubting that with the way both teams have performed as of late, Lawrenson’s prediction for us to win is a bit of a shock.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites have seen their bid to sign this free agent hijacked by a Premier League rival.