Cardiff vs Leeds Prediction: Pressure to intensify on Bluebirds boss

Cardiff City take on Leeds United at the Cardiff City Stadium in the EFL Championship on Saturday (15:00), with the hosts still searching for their first win of the season. The Bluebirds have collected just one point so far and there is a lot of pressure mounting on boss Erol Bulut.

The win looks to remain elusive against the promotion-chasing visitors, as my Cardiff vs Leeds prediction suggests. Below you will find my tips for this clash, as well as match odds and team news.

Cardiff vs Leeds Odds

Cardiff are 9/2, or a 18.2% chance to pick up there first win of the season. Leeds are priced at 3/5, giving them an implied probability of 62.5%. The draw can be backed at 3/1 (25%).

Both teams to score is available at 5/6 and over 2.5 goals is marketed at the same odds.

Football Odds

Team News 

As the pressure builds on Cardiff boss Bulut, he could make several changes to his team this weekend but he is still missing several players due to injury. They are Jamilu Collins, Kion Etete, Jesper Daland, Ryotaro Tsunoda and Isaak Davies.

Callum Robinson has been deemed unwell by his manager but he was seen at the game between Manchester City and Inter Milan in midweek.

Calum Chambers and Dimitrious Goutas should continue in the heart of the back line but Will Fish could also enter the fold. David Turnbull and Alex Robertson will be hoping to start in the middle of the park, while Ollie Tanner and Chris Willock will hope to start in attack alongside Wilfried Kanga.

Leeds are going to be without key defender Joe Rodon after a nasty head clash last weekend. Winger Dan James has bee absent for the last two matches and so he will be a doubt to feature this weekend in South Wales.

Midfielder Ethan Ampadu could drop into defence to fill in for Rodon, a role he is no stranger to, and he will likely partner Pascal Struijk. This could then present an opportunity in the middle of the park for Joe Rothwell, Ilia Gruev or Ao Tanaka.

Mateo Joseph should continue up front and is likely to be supported once again by Willy Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson and Manor Solomon.

Leeds -1 handicap @ 7/4

There's no beating around the bush, Cardiff are terrible. Four defeats from five, one point, 11 goals conceded - things are not looking good for the Bluebirds who were seemingly punching above their weight last season.

It feels like Bulut is coming to the end of his tenure at the Cardiff City Stadium and the Leeds game could end up being his last. It would feel harsh to sack him for losing here because Cardiff would always be expected to struggle against a promotion contender, but it might be the manner of defeat that could cost him his position.

This should be one of the easiest wins the Whites will get all season. Cardiff are too easy to play against and with the attacking quality Daniel Farke's side have, they could easily fire three or more past the Welsh outfit.

There is unrest among the home crowd which will likely spill onto the pitch on Saturday, and this should play into Leeds' hands. The visitors have ground to make up in the promotion race but this is essentially a free hit for them and I expect them to take their chance.

I think they are worth backing to win with a -1 handicap here.

Leeds to win to nil @ 8/5

There is no confidence in Cardiff's defence, and their one goal scored shows that there is no faith in their attacking stars either. As such, I think Leeds are also worth backing to win to nil.

They have quality in areas all over the pitch to manage this game for the entire 90 minutes. The attacking stars can have a lot of fun in the final third against a poor-performing defence, and their own defenders can easily deal with the forwards given that goals and chances have been very hard to come by.

Leeds have kept three clean sheets in the second tier so far and they were victorious in two of those matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City. I have faith that this market will land for the Whites again because they are playing the current worst side in the division, who don't have any hope with things as they are.

Offers

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