Bristol City vs Leeds Prediction: Goals galore expected at Ashton Gate

Leeds United are now odds-on favourites to win the Championship and judging by the performances of Daniel Farke’s men, it won’t be long until they reach the summit of the second tier. A 2-1 win over Watford in midweek wasn’t perfect but it was a game they dominated for long periods. 

Their next test comes as they travel to face Bristol City at Saturday lunchtime (12:30, Sky Sports+), as the Robins come off the back of a 2-2 draw with Stoke City. This should be a brilliant game for the neutral and below you can find my Bristol City vs Leeds prediction.

Team News

After the tragic loss of his newborn son Theo, Bristol City manager Liam Manning will not be present at Ashton Gate this weekend as he continues his period of absence. Our thoughts go out to him and his family at this time. His assistant Chris Hogg took charge of the draw at Stoke, and after an impressive comeback may be tempted to stick with the same team.

Mark Sykes replaced the popular Yu Hirakawa on Tuesday night, while Fally Mayulu was consigned to a spot on the bench once again along with Sinclair Armstrong. Given Nahki Wells bagged a brace, he is certain to hold onto the striker spot while Kal Naismith and Harry Cornick will be desperate for more game time having both been unused substitutes against Stoke.

Meanwhile, Daniel Farke must once again choose whether Joel Piroe or Mateo Joseph will lead the line. Joseph was his preferred choice at the start of the season but Piroe has started the last three, scoring once over that spell. Elsewhere the team picks itself at the moment with Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell doing well in the midfield in the absence of Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev, while Willy Gnonto is keeping Dan James and Manor Solomon out of the team right now. However, Largie Ramazani has serious ankle ligament damage and is out for four to six weeks, opening the door for James to come in. 

Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Pascal Strujik and Junior Firpo make up a solid back four that Sam Byram is trying to break into, but Joseph for Piroe is the only change I can envisage for this one. 

Bristol City vs Leeds Odds

Bristol City are priced at 100/30 to win this game, with Leeds available at 5/6. That gives the away side a win probability of 54.5%, while a draw can be backed at 13/5. If you fancy some goals, over 2.5 is 10/11 and BTTS is 4/5. 

Leeds to win and BTTS @ 11/4

Leeds are the best side in this league and will go on to win the title come May. I’m fairly bullish on that statement for a number of reasons. They’ve got the best squad, the best individual players and a manager who has registered 90+ points in each of the three seasons he has spent at this level before. This term they are less reliant on a player like Crysencio Summerville and have replaced both him and Georginio Rutter brilliantly, with Ramazani and Joseph stepping up to the plate. 

They’ve lost just once in the league this season and have scored 19 goals in their 11 matches so far, so I think another win is on the cards here. However, I also believe that the Robins have the ability to find the net, as they have done in five of their last six outings. With a wealth of attacking talent including Wells, Conway and Armstrong, they can test this Leeds defence.

Over 4.5 goals @ 5/1

I just feel this game will be packed full of goals. There’s so much attacking talent in that Leeds team that they should be able to tear Bristol City apart on what is a big pitch. The fact that they can keep the likes of Patrick Bamford, James and Solomon on the bench in this division is quite frankly ridiculous and if they do get a rare start, they will be desperate to impress. 

They’ve not smashed a team this season, with their biggest victory being a 3-0 success against Coventry City - but it only feels like a matter of time until they do. Also, I think Bristol City will be front-footed in front of their own fans and can score at least once here. We are getting good value on a goal-fest at Ashton Gate in my opinion.

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