Leeds v Manchester City predictions: Injury-hit Leeds heading for a heavy defeat

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Leeds United v Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Where to watch

Amazon Prime Video, 8pm Wednesday

Best bet

Manchester City to win & over 2.5 goals
2pts 4-6 BoyleSports

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Team news

Leeds
Tyler Adams serves a one-match ban and Luis Sinisterra, Archie Gray (both ankle) and Stuart Dallas (thigh) are sidelined. Patrick Bamford (match fitness), Crysencio Summerville (ankle), Rodrigo (hamstring), Liam Cooper (calf), Jack Harrison (muscle strain), Mateusz Klich and Illan Meslier (both illness) are all doubts.

Man City
Julian Alvarez (late return from international duty), Ruben Dias (hamstring) are unavailable and Kalvin Phillips (match fitness) is unlikely to feature.

Match preview

Manchester City demolished Leeds twice last season, winning 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium and 4-0 at Elland Road, and that trend of high-scoring victories should continue in their post-Christmas tussle in Yorkshire.

City's standards dipped when they signed off for the World Cup break with a shock 2-1 loss at home to Brentford but they looked more like their old selves during Thursday's 3-2 success at home to Liverpool in the EFL Cup fourth round.

Leeds-born goal machine Erling Haaland set the ball rolling against Liverpool with a well-taken tenth-minute strike, his 24th in all competitions, and City went on to claim a narrow but deserved victory in a high-quality contest played at an excellent tempo from start to finish.

Pep Guardiola got pretty much everything he wanted from the game in terms of progressing to the next round, handing opportunities to promising youngsters and topping up the fitness levels of senior players.

With City's World Cup contingent a further six days down the track in their search for optimum fitness, it would be reasonable to expect a higher-level performance against Leeds.

The task facing Jesse Marsch's side looks a daunting one and it has been made more difficult by the absence of several key players.

Talented Colombian winger Luis Sinisterra is still on the comeback trail after an ankle injury sustained towards the end of October but an even bigger blow is the loss of energetic midfielder Tyler Adams to a one-game ban.

Adams caught the eye at the World Cup where he was a key figure in the USA's largely dominant group-stage 0-0 draw against England.

And he has quickly established himself as a key player for Leeds, forging an excellent midfield partnership with fellow summer signing Marc Roca.

Adams featured alongside Roca in 13 of Leeds's 14 league matches with the only exception being the 3-2 October loss at home to Fulham when the American missed out with a minor injury.

On that occasion there was a noticeable drop-off in the intensity of Leeds's performance and, if they fail to find a better solution against City, there is a danger of the outcome getting ugly.

Aside from the definite absentees, Marsch faces an anxious wait on the fitness of seven other players with goalkeeper Illan Meslier and Mateusz Klich battling to shake off bouts of illness and Patrick Bamford, Crysensio Summerville, Rodrigo, Liam Cooper and Jack Harrison hoping to recover from minor injuries.

Marsch has to make a few judgement calls and might have to consider holding one or two back for Saturday's clash at Newcastle which, while extremely difficult, might be seen as a more winnable fixture.

Either way, it is hard to envisage Leeds avoiding a wide-margin defeat which would leave them firmly in the relegation mix.

Key stat

Leeds have conceded at least three goals in three of their last four league matches.

Inside info

Leeds

Penalty taker Rodrigo
Assist ace Jack Harrison
Set-piece aerial threat Liam Cooper
Card magnet Rasmus Kristensen

Manchester City

Penalty taker Erling Haaland
Assist ace Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat John Stones
Card magnet Joao Cancelo

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