Man City v Leeds- Preview, Predictions, and Best Bets

Man City host Leeds at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night. Pep Guardiola’s side top the table, having the best defensive record and have won six matches in a row. Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds side have won just three of their 16 matches and sit five points above the relegation places.

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Man City Form

City is in great form in the . They’ve won 12 and drawn two of their 15 matches since losing on an opening day to Tottenham. After a shock 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace at the end of October, they’ve won six matches in a row in the league.

That streak of wins has seen three clean sheets and three matches where they’ve conceded once. They won 2-0 at Man Utd in something of a mercy killing where they could have gone in search of more goals. A 3-0 home win against Everton followed. In their last four matches, three have come by a single goal margin so they aren’t blowing teams away. Their most recent match saw a soft penalty to win 1-0 at home against a Wolves side who played the entire second half with ten men.

Man City Team News

City remains without winger Ferran Torres whilst Joao Cancelo serves a one-match suspension for five yellow cards. Kyle Walker should take his place after being an unused sub last time out. Oleksandr Zinchenko will play at left-back.

Some rotation in the front six is expected with City boasting Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez on the bench for the Wolves match. All three could start in attack to freshen up the side. John Stones could also get a start at center-back.

Man City Motivation

City will go all out to win this match and will relish facing a Bielsa side. They know they will face man marking but also that there will be some space to exploit on transitions.

Guardiola’s side is not throwing men forward this season and is winning matches by smaller margins, as they did in their long winning streak last season. They could get 1-0 or 2-0 up and look to consolidate the result by “defending with the ball” instead of chasing a bigger scoreline.

Leeds Form

Leeds are just five points above the relegation places having managed a paltry three league wins in 16 matches. Their opening nine matches brought a single victory whilst they’ve won two of their last seven. Their second victory was a 2-1 at struggling Norwich and they performed well after that albeit in a 1-1 home draw with Leicester and a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham.

Their last match saw a very good performance but a 3-2 defeat at Chelsea are conceding two soft penalties. Before that, the side had gone three matches without defeat, drawing 0-0 at Brighton before a 94th-minute penalty to beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Elland Road. A last-gasp 2-2 home draw with Brentford preceded the Chelsea defeat.

Leeds Team News

Bielsa has plenty of injuries to deal with. Robin Koch is training again but this match comes too soon for him. Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk are fellow defensive options not available to Leeds.

Kalvin Phillips is out for a good while in central midfield so Adam Forshaw will continue to cover in the holding role. Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo are both injured upfront. After his goal against Chelsea as a sub, teenage striker Joe Gelhardt will surely be handed a start.

Leeds Motivation

Leeds will continue with its man-marking system. They tend to be slightly more conservative in the big matches and not as reckless these days at throwing five or six forward to attack the box.

One real issue for Bielsa is his side’s lack of options on the bench with all their injuries. Once trailing, it isn’t easy to change the match. They would certainly be taking a draw from this match but will play to win.

Key Stats

Man City have the best defensive record in the PL (9 conceded in 16 matches)

City have won 6 PL matches in a row

City have kept 7 clean sheets in their last 9 home PL matches

Leeds have L4, D3 of their last 7 away PL matches (W1)

Leeds have only scored 17 goals in 16 matches

Raphinha has scored 7 of Leeds’ 17 PL goals this season

Leeds have conceded in 7 of their last 8 away PL matches

Verdict

This match looks likely to see a home victory due to the current form of the two sides. Leeds struggled on the road and are not scoring freely due to their attacking injuries. City tends to keep clean sheets at home so a win to nil could be the best to go for.