Leeds United vs Harrogate Town Prediction: Whites to do right in low-key triumph

Harrogate Town of League 2 are embracing the prized draw of a trip to mighty Leeds United in round three of the FA Cup, a tie you can watch on BBC iPlayer on Saturday evening (17:45).

There are 69 places in the football pyramid between these Yorkshire neighbours, with Simon Weaver's 22/1 underdogs hoping the magic of the cup sprinkles some stardust their way.

Football Odds

Team News

Daniel Farke will make a number of changes for this tie with the likes of second-choice keeper Karl Darlow, teenage midfielder Sam Chambers and back-up striker Mateo Joseph set for starts.

Farke is without Junior Firpo, Ilian Gruev and Patrick Bamford and could be reluctant to play Joe Gelhardt ahead of a proposed loan move.

Harrogate have signed 18-year-old defender Eko Solomon from Huddersfield and he is set to go straight into the squad.

Leeds United vs Harrogate Town Odds

Leeds, the Championship leaders, are a skinny 1/16 for this tie, though anyone with recent memories of the Whites being stunned by the likes of Sutton and Crawley may prefer the 6/1 Draw or Harrogate in the Double Chance market.

It's 8/13 Leeds win and both teams do not score while romantics might be tempted by the 22/1 for Harrogate to win in 90 minutes.

Leeds United win & Under 3.5 Goals @ 6/4

Leeds' formidable home record makes the Championship pace-setters hard to dislike against a Harrogate Town side whose obsession this season is staying in the Football League rather than dreaming about a day out at Wembley in an FA Cup final.

Having said that, this is their cup final, a short hop down the road to their celebrated Yorkshire rivals and they will want to put on a good show.

And by good show, that surely means packing a defence and hoping that all the changes Daniel Farke will surely make leads to a disjointed effort from the mighty Whites.

Leeds have not lost an FA Cup tie at Elland Road since 2011, are unbeaten in their last 10 home fixtures this season, winning nine, and are the second tier's top scorers.

All of that works against Harrogate, who were on a seven-game winless streak before triumphing 2-0 at Barrow at the weekend.

With precious little value in anything pro-Leeds, maybe look at the hosts winning in a game featuring under 3.5 goals.

Over 10.5 Corners @ 1/1

There may be less urgency than usual with Leeds as they look to book their place in round four with the minimum of fuss.

But they will be doing all the attacking and that should manifest itself in plenty of corners.

They average over eight per home game against Championship opponents. Surely, with any help going from Harrogate, between them they can clear 10.5 corners on Saturday.

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

Place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on any FA Cup game on Saturday and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Sunday’s FA Cup games. (Credited upon Bet Settlement)