Swansea v Leeds: Oppose goals between ball-hogging pair | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Leeds have impressed defensively under Daniel Farke

High-flying Leeds travel to Swansea for Sunday's live Championship action. Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is backing the Whites to pick up a positive result in Wales...

Football... Only Bettor Podcast - Watch here!

🔗 Spotify

New era for Swansea

Swansea boss Luke Williams hopes a change of ownership at the club will mean a "very exciting" future for the Welsh outfit. Chairman Andy Coleman and fellow shareholders Brett Cravatt and Nigel Morris - plus businessman Jason Cohen - are in the process of buying the club out with Coleman suggesting the takeover will bring "significant opportunities".

The Swans are languishing in 11th in the Championship following defeat at Burnley in their most recent outing. Coleman has suggested the deal could see more than £20m brought into the club with Williams saying, "I think we are all holding our breath and hoping it's going to be finalised and be the start of something very exciting for Swansea."

Looking ahead to Sunday's return to action, the Swansea supremo is pleased to get an extra day of preparation in having seen Ben Cabango, Joe Allen and Liam Cullen away with Wales, whilst striker Zan Vipotnik, goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux, plus Nathan Tjoe-A-On and Aimar Govea were also on international duty. Ollie Cooper remains a long-term absentee.

Leeds bounce back

Leeds chief Daniel Farke was pleased with the Whites' performance after overseeing a 2-0 success over rock-bottom QPR before the international break. The victory leaves Leeds only two points off the Championship summit in third and came immediately after a disappointing defeat away at Millwall, only the side's second loss of the campaign.

Speaking post-match, Farke said, "Of course it could and should have been more convincing, but I am just happy with the win and I have to give many compliments to my lads. To deliver such a performance in the third game in seven days, and to respond after a loss is never easy in this league. I'm very happy with the performance, the win and the clean sheet."

Leeds had 13 players away representing their countries during the break with Junior Firpo the last in action for the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night but he is now one of four Whites players out of Sunday's clash, joining Largie Ramazani, Ilia Gruev, and Ethan Ampadu on the sidelines. Dan James and Joel Piroe will hope for recalls against their former club.

Leeds fair favourites

Swansea and Leeds have crossed swords 10 times this century with the Whites enjoying a W6-D1-L3 supremacy - the West Yorkshire giants have tabled top honours in each of the last three meetings between the pair, including 4-0 and 3-1 victories last season. The visitors have also won each of their last two trips to South Wales without conceding a goal.

Swansea 4.8 have posted W2-D3-L4 since mid-September in the Championship, tending to fall short when the standard of opposition increases. The Swans have returned W1-D2-L6 when facing sides in the top-13, although Luke Williams' men have been at their best in front of their own supporters, losing just once in seven encounters thus far (W3-D3-L1).

Leeds 1.84 top all of the major performance data metrics in the second-tier, leading the way in terms of Expected Points (xP) and Expected Goals (xG) ratio. The Whites (W8-D5-L2) have been plagued by draws on their travels (W2-D4-L1) but have been excellent defensively, shipping just twice in their last six and keeping clean sheets in 4/7 away days.

Oppose goals on Sunday

Under 2.5 Goals 1.71 is understandably short considering 22 of the two teams' combined 30 Championship contests have featured fewer than three goals with the pair recording 14 shutouts during that same sample. A more appealing play is to support Both Teams To Score 'No' at 9/10 on the Sportsbook having returned the same 22/30 (73%) hit-rate.

Swansea have scored just 10 non-penalty goals in 15 Championship games - the lowest in the division, whilst Leeds have only managed seven goals of their own in seven games outside of Elland Road this season. Both teams have a preference to dominate possession and such similar styles could make for another goal-shy showdown in South Wales.

Now read more of today's best tips and previews here!

Recommended bets

Back Both Teams To Score ‘No’ @ 9/10