Leeds To Dent Derby’s Pride in Championship

Two teams at opposite ends of the Championship table meet this Tuesday night.

Form
Friday’s 4-0 victory away to Birmingham ended a run of three league and cup games without a win for Derby and also lifted the Rams back up to third position in the Championship table.

Top scorer Chris Martin scored the second of the game at St Andrews to make it 16 for the season and two in his last two, while Johnny Russell rounded off the victory with his eighth of the season and also his second in his last two starts.

Steve McClaren’s men have lost only once at home all season, but have been held to a draw on four occasions at the IPro Stadium this campaign.

Leeds, meanwhile, lost 2-0 to fellow relegation strugglers Wigan on Boxing Day and in doing so slipped to 20th position in the Championship table and within just four points of the drop zone.

Neil Redfearn’s side have now won only two of their last 15 Championship games, with their last win coming against Derby at Elland Road at the end of November. That game is also the only clean sheet that the Whites have kept in their last 13 games.

Team News
Craig Bryson missed the Boxing Day clash with Birmingham through injury and is doubtful for this one, while Jamie Wrd and Zak Whitbread remain sidelined. Jake Buxton will be available, however, after serving a two-match suspension.

Giuseppe Bellusci and Michael Tonge both returned to the Leeds side for the Boxing Day defeat at Wigan but we should expect more changes again here as Redfearn looks to find a winning formula.

Head-to-Head
Leeds won 2-0 when the sides met at Elland Road just a month ago as a couple of goals from Mirco Antenucci either side of half-time produced a shock result in the Championship.

Derby, however, have won the last six home meetings against Leeds and are unbeaten here since the 2001/02 season. Chris Martin and Johnny Russell were both on the scoresheet in a 3-1 win for the Rams in this fixture last season.

Recommended Bets

Leeds are capable of producing occasional freak results and performances, while Derby aren’t the most ruthless on their home patch. Therefore, the 13/2 about an away win does carry some appeal, but the 7/4 about Leeds-Draw in the Double Chance market at odds of 17/10 makes more sense.

Chris Martin and Johnny Russell are both plenty short enough at odds of 23/20 and 13/10 in the Anytime Goalscorer betting, and at those odds it has to be the former that represents the better value bet. Mirco Antenucci is a10/3 chance to score again in this fixture.