Sky Sports pundit David Prutton in ‘tough’ verdict for Stoke City v Leeds United prediction
David Prutton is expecting Leeds United to have an easier task against Stoke City than they did versus Norwich City.
The Whites came from two goals down to defeat manager Daniel Farke’s old side 3-2 last time out and are aiming for a fourth straight Championship win when they head to the bet365 Stadium on Wednesday (25 October).
Stoke have struggled this term but Alex Neil got one over his old club Sunderland in a 2-1 triumph last time out.
Sky Sports presenter David Prutton expects a “tough” outing for Stoke this time, though, and predicted a 2-0 win for Leeds.
“That was a huge result for Alex Neil on Saturday. To take a win against his old Sunderland side was badly needed and should give them some confidence,” Prutton wrote on his prediction page for Sky Sports (23 October).
“But they run into a Leeds side in form, and who showed their resilience against Norwich on Saturday, battling back from two down to win 3-2. I think this is another three Leeds points, and I don’t think it will be as tough for them as it was at Carrow Road.”
Keep the momentum going
On paper it is extremely difficult to disagree with Prutton’s assertion that this fixture is easier for Leeds than the trip to Norwich, who were aiming to give their promotion hopes a shot in the arm on home turf.
But football, as Leeds supporters know all too well, is not played on football and Stoke away has traditionally been one of the tougher outings in the football pyramid – after all why do people still ask if Lionel Messi could do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke?
Well, it doesn’t really matter whether Messi can do it, what does matter is whether this current crop of Leeds players can get the job done against a side struggling at the bottom end of the table but buoyed by beating a very good Sunderland side.
Winning back-to-back games in the Championship is tough enough, so if Leeds can rack up a fourth straight win it would be hugely impressive and only reinforce the idea that they can close the gap on the top two and muscle into the automatic promotion race.
In other Leeds United news, Adam Pope was left wowed by what Farke did in the Norwich comeback.