Football Bet of the Day: Leeds looking for derby uplift

Our football bet of the day for Friday comes from the Championship clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United, under the lights at Hillsborough (19:45, live on Sky Sports Main Event).

Wednesday have won one and lost one in the Championship so far, beating Plymouth Argyle 4-0 on the opening day, before losing by the same scoreline against Sunderland last weekend. Meanwhile, Leeds remain unbeaten after drawing their opening two fixtures - a 3-3 thriller with Portsmouth, and a goalless stalemate with West Bromwich Albion.

Sheffield Wednesday vs Leeds United Odds

Leeds are odds-on favourites for this game at 8/11 - or a theoretical chance of 57.9% - which may seem surprising given the opening two results for both sides. The draw is priced up at 5/2, and a home win can be backed at 3/1.

The Lilywhites have made a poor start to the season considering the expectations placed upon them heading into the new campaign, picking up just two points from their opening two league fixtures, as well as losing to league rivals Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup.

Considering that Leeds are amongst the favourites for automatic promotion, the six-goal thriller with newly-promoted Portsmouth on the opening weekend came as a shock. Daniel Farke’s side broke the deadlock in the 10th minute through a penalty from Pascal Struijk, however, what was expected to be a routine victory was anything but for the Lilywhites as Pompey went into the interval 2-1 up thanks to goals from Elias Sorensen and Callum Lang.

Wilfred Gnonto equalised for Leeds before Callum Lang scored his second of the game late on to seemingly hand the victory to Portsmouth, before Brenden Aaronson came to the rescue in the 95th minute to salvage a point for United.

However, the Elland Road outfit have enough quality to make a breakthrough here and the way Wednesday lost last week against Sunderland suggests that they could be cut open by Farke's side, who did struggle at West Brom last time out, but will likely find it easier on Friday night. Wednesday have been tough to beat at Hillsborough under Danny Rohl but Leeds are the only team who have managed a win at this stadium in the Owls’ last 11 games.

As mentioned in the introduction, Wednesday began their campaign in terrific style by beating fellow strugglers from last season, Plymouth Argyle, 4-0, in a game that promised so much for the Owls. They then followed that up with a 2-1 victory over Hull City in the Carabao Cup, before being brought back down to earth with the heavy defeat to Sunderland, which will sting, and Danny Rohl will want to see his side respond here.

Football Odds

I've opted for a Leeds win and both teams to score as Farke's men are unbeaten in their last three away trips to Wednesday, winning 2-0 at this venue last season, with the home side last winning the fixture at Hillsborough back in 2017.

The Lilywhites are generally good travellers too, netting 36 goals in 23 away trips last term, while Wednesday have scored six goals across their three games this term - as well as five successive home outings. The Owls did create a few decent chances at Sunderland despite failing to score, so both of these teams look capable of scoring on Friday.

Offers

Acca Flex - Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down.

Betfred are running their famed Double Delight & Hat-trick Heaven Pre-Match offer on this match, meaning that if a player scores first and then nets again, you will be paid at double the odds. If he grabs a hat-trick, you will be paid at treble the odds!

You can read our latest Football Bet of the Day at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.