After their automatic promotion bid ended in disappointment, Leeds United will need to regroup when they take on Derby County at Pride Park in Saturday’s play-off semi-final first leg.
Marcelo Bielsa’s men looked like strong title contenders for most of the regular season, but dropped down to third after picking up just 10 points from the last available 27.
Latest odds
Having won both league encounters against this opposition by an aggregate 6-1 scoreline, they are 29/20 (2.45) favourites with 888Sport to take control of this tie by coming out on top.
However, only the automatically promoted Norwich and Sheffield United claimed more points on home turf than the Rams, who are available at 41/20 (3.05) to pull off a big win here.
Next Match
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Just one of the last six encounters between this pair at this ground has resulted in a draw, but there are odds of 41/20 (3.05) available on this one finishing up all square.
Team news
Martyn Waghorn will be assessed after limping off in last weekend’s victory over West Brom with a sore achilles tendon, while Craig Bryson and Andy King are both long-term injury concerns.
Patrick Bamford will serve the second game of his two-match suspension incurred for deceiving the officials, with Barry Douglas unavailable due to injury.
Preview
While Bielsa’s all-action tactics saw his team take the Championship by storm in the first half of the campaign, fatigue seems to have set in as they limped over the finish line – losing three and winning none of the final four fixtures.
In contrast, Frank Lampard’s young side has finished strongly, winning four and losing none of the last six matches while scoring 14 goals in that run.
Tips and predictions
With momentum behind them, those 41/20 (3.05) odds seem particularly generous on Derby proving too strong for a Leeds side that appears to have lost its mojo.
Derby to win at 41/20 (3.05) for a 1pt stake with 888Sport
888Sport
