Leeds v Sunderland: Play your cards right on Monday night | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Leeds have been the standout side in the Championship

Leeds look to return to the top of the Championship with a positive result against fellow promotion contenders Sunderland on Monday night. Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is expecting a feisty fixture at Elland Road...

Leeds v SunderlandMonday February 17, 20:00Live on Sky Sports

Leeds impress at Watford

Leeds boss Daniel Farke feels his side are in a strong position in the Championship promotion race following an eye-catching 4-0 win at Watford last week. The Whites were quickly into a 2-0 lead courtesy of two goals from Dan James and they added a third before half time through Manor Solomon before Joel Piroe completed the rout.

However, Farke has insisted his side must guard against complacency. He said, "It is so far so good. After 32 game days to be there with 59 points is outstanding but the real judgement is in May. We know we have a good momentum and are in great shape, but we have to use and ride this moment and keep going. We have to stay focused and professional."

Farke's squad is relatively healthy coming into Monday night's clash with Max Wober and Patrick Bamford the only two players ruled out of action. Willy Gnonto and Mateo Joseph will hope for recalls in forward areas, though the likes of Joe Rothwell and Pascal Struijk will have to make-do with a place on the bench following the fine form of Leeds' starters.

Sunderland ready for Elland Road challenge

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris says that Enzo Le Fee provided the 'X-Factor' in his side's 2-0 home win over struggling Luton last time out. The Frenchman broke the deadlock after 13 minutes with a 20-yard strike for his first Black Cats goal with Wilson Isidor doubling the advantage to help maintain the Wearsiders' unbeaten home record in the league.

After praising Le Fee, the Sunderland boss was quick to turn his attention to Monday night's match-up. Le Bris said, "We needed an X-Factor against Luton, and it was important to have a player like Enzo to make the difference. Monday will be an exciting challenge - a good challenge to test our limits. I think we can improve our level against the best opponents."

Meanwhile, Romaine Mundle "is an option" for Monday, according to Le Bris. He returned to training last week and has missed Sunderland's past 17 games after scoring four in his first 15 appearances this season. The Black Cats boss isn't expected to make any major changes to his starting XI with midfielder Salis Abdul Samed again starting on the bench.

Whites too short to support

Leeds haven't enjoyed their more recent meetings with Sunderland - Illan Meslier's mistake deep into added time saw the Whites drop two points in the reverse encounter, meaning the West Yorkshire hosts have only won once in their last seven league games against the Black Cats (W1-D3-L3), and are winless in five at home to the Wearsiders (W0-D2-L3).

Leeds 1.62 have been the standout side in the Championship this season, topping all the major performance data metrics by a distance. The Whites have also bagged 12 wins from their past 13 home league outings (W12-D1-L0), recording 10 clean sheets and scoring 37 goals. However, the hosts are W3-D5-L2 against fellow top-eight outfits thus far.

Sunderland 6.00 are looking to win three consecutive away league games for the first time since September 2023 and come into this contest unbeaten in 2025 (W5-D3-L0). The Black Cats are W2-D6-L1 against top-eight opposition, with their only reverse arriving via a narrow 1-0 loss at Sheffield United. Regis Le Bris' boys look underrated in the market here.

Card-heavy contest appeals

Matches between the breakaway top-four and fellow high-flyers have tended to be feisty affairs and I'm backing a repeat here with Over 4.5 Cards available at 9/5.

Leeds have seen card totals of 3-6-4-3-6-9-4 when taking on top-six teams this season with the reverse encounter back in October seeing three cards apiece. Sunderland's card hauls against the sides in the top-six have produced 5-5-5-10-0-6-7 - meaning of the 13 combined contests against top-six sides, eight have hit Over 4.5 Cards and nine have seen 4+ bookings.

I'm therefore happy to support a five-card game. Experienced referee Craig Pawson oversees the encounter - he's averaging 4.44 cards in 16 league showdowns this term and has flashed Over 3.5 Cards in 62% of those matches, delivering 5+ in 56%.

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Back Over 4.5 Cards @ 9/5