Leeds vs Cardiff: Routine win for the league leaders

Leeds United lead the way in the Championship on 60 points, two clear of Sheffield United in second. They will be hoping to extend the gap when they entertain Cardiff City at Elland Road on Saturday (15:00).

The Whites played out a drab 0-0 at promotion rivals Burnley on Monday but they had won back-to-back home games before that. The visitors head to Yorkshire unbeaten in their last seven outings in the second tier. Read on for my Leeds vs Cardiff prediction, aided by the latest match odds and team news.

Leeds vs Cardiff Odds

Leeds have lost just one game at home all season in the Championship, and they have won 11 of their previous 12 encounters here. They are 2/7 to prevail on Saturday. The Whites have won to nil on 10 occasions inside this ground, and you can back this market at a more attractive 10/11, which has an implied probability of 52.4%.

There have been stalemates in four of Cardiff's seven-game unbeaten streak, including two on away territory. The draw is on offer at 9/2 on this occasion. The Bluebirds have won the other three but only one of them has come on their travels. It's 10/1 for them to pull off an upset in Yorkshire.

Leeds winger Manor Solomon has struck in his side's last two league matches at Elland Road, and he is 21/10 (32.3%) to score anytime against Cardiff.

Football Odds

Team News

Pascal Struijk has missed the past four games for Leeds with a hamstring injury but there is hope he could be involved in some capacity at the weekend, following comments made by boss Daniel Farke on Tuesday.

"I hope we can involve him at some point during this week in training," Farke told BBC Radio Leeds.

"We don't have that much time between the games, before the Cardiff game, but I hope that he will be back in training.

"Then we will see a bit closer to the game at what point he will be available for selection, or at least be able to sit on the bench."

One would expect Farke to be focused on Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon as the centre-back pairing to face the Bluebirds, but Struijk's return to the fold would be a welcome boost to the league leaders.

Ilia Gruev was handed a first start following his long injury lay-off on Monday and the midfielder should get the nod over Joe Rothwell to partner Ao Tanaka in the engine room again. Full-back Sam Byram has been preferred over Junior Firpo on the left side of the defence in recent weeks and that doesn't look to change when Cardiff come to town.

Joel Piroe should lead the line for Leeds again as their top scorer with 10 goals. There isn't as much security for the supporting attacking roles, though, with Dan James, Brenden Aaronson and Solomon, Largie Ramazani and Wilfried Gnonto all competing with one another for those positions.

Cardiff are without the services of Aaron Ramsey, David Turnbull and Ollie Tanner due to injury. Calum Chambers and Joe Ralls have been utilised in front of the back four recently, but January addition Sivert Mannsverk will be eager to make his debut in the middle of the park.

Callum Robinson, who has 11 goals in the league, will lead the line for the Welsh outfit, while Anwar El Ghazi will be hoping for a promotion from the bench after scoring against Derby County last time out.

Leeds to win to nil @ 10/11

Earlier I mentioned how Leeds have won to nil on 10 occasions at Elland Road this season in the Championship. They've played 15 here in total, so that amounts to a whopping 67 per cent.

Farke's men are such a force at home and this will be key in their quest for a return to the Premier League. Another impressive stat surrounding the Whites when they play at home is the fact that they have conceded just seven goals.

Their defence are well-organised and visiting teams are finding it incredibly tough to breach Leeds' back line in LS11. Cardiff are on a decent run at the moment but Leeds away will be their toughest test of the season so far, and unfortunately I think their unbeaten streak will come to an end.

Over 1.5 Leeds goals @ 4/9

Leeds are the top scorers in the division with 53 goals from 29 games, meaning they are averaging 1.83 goals per match. The hosts have been slick in attack throughout the campaign and goals are to be expected from them, particularly when they play at home.

Elland Road is where 68 per cent of their goals have been scored (36) and across 15 fixtures, they are averaging 2.4 per appearance. They are stacked with quality attackers in the final third but goals have also come from less likely sources at times.

Cardiff have proven to be tougher to score against in recent weeks, so Leeds may not be as free-scoring as we have seen them on some occasions this term, but I do think at the very least we will see them hit their average figure at Elland Road on Saturday.

Offers

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