Football betting tips: Sky Bet Championship
1pt Crysencio Summerville 1+ assists at 15/8 (Sky Bet)
Preston shocked Leeds with victory on Boxing Day, but it should be a different outcome when the duo meet once again at Elland Road on Sunday.
Daniel Farke's side remain unbeaten at home this season. A total of 31 points returned from a possible 39 underlines just how strong they are in front of their own supporters.
Bad news for a Preston side who haven't travelled well; Deepdale form keeping them in the play-off picture.
They've lost their last three on the road in all competitions, with a win over a poor Huddersfield side their only one in the last six. Beaten 3-0 at Leicester and 4-2 at Ipswich, those miserable returns against the should continue here.
What are the best bets?
CRYSENCIO SUMMERVILLE has been a star in this Leeds side, with 12 goals and seven assists in 24 league appearances this season.
The winger is one of the elite players in this division, with goals coming in five of his last nine outings in the league.
You can get 15/8 on 1+ ASSISTS, which is the value play considering that the home side should see the large majority of the chances.
He does have seven on that tally but it could have been more based on the sheer number of opportunities that he creates for his teammates.
Summerville averages the highest number of key passes per game in the entire division, finding others who then have efforts towards goal.
It helps that he takes set-pieces but his influence on the game sees plenty of chances from open play. Summerville and Georginio Rutter have formed a fine partnership in attack too.
My eye was immediately caught by the price in this market, making it the best bet of the game.
BuildABet @ 28/1
- Crysencio Summerville 1+ assists
- Georginio Rutter 2+ shots on target
- Daniel James to win 2+ fouls
- Joe Rodon 1+ total shots
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Only Summerville (30) has had more shots on target than Rutter (25) this season, with the forward finding the net on five occasions.
Speedy winger Dan James was fouled five times in the last meeting between these sides - that is the highest amount he's seen this season.
With Leeds expected to be on the front foot, they could see the corner count go high. That will give centre-back Joe Rodon opportunities to strike.
Team news
Leeds have been boosted by the return of Sam Byram and Liam Cooper to training, meaning that both defenders could feature from the start on Sunday.
However, Farke has warned that they need to manage Byram carefully, so he may have to settle for a spot on the bench.
Pascal Struijk remains out for another week, while Wilfried Gnonto is a major doubt with a hip injury.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe revealed that there has been illness in the camp, meaning that "two or three" are doubtful to be involved because of it.
Defender Jack Whatmough and forward Ched Evans remain out with injury.
Predicted line-ups
Leeds XI: Meslier; Gray, Rodon, Cooper, Firpo; Ampadu, Kamara; James, Rutter, Summerville; Bamford.
Preston XI: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, McCann, Whiteman, Millar; Holmes, Browne; Riis.
Match facts
- Leeds United have only lost one of their last 11 league home matches against Preston (W6 D4), losing 6-4 in September 2010 with Jon Parkin scoring a hat-trick for the visitors.
- Preston North End are looking for their first league double over Leeds since the 1957-58 top-flight season.
- Leeds United are the only side in the Championship this season who have avoided defeat at home (W9 D4); they last went unbeaten in their first 14 home league games of a season in 2009-10 in League One.
- Preston have lost six of their last nine league games away from home (W2 D1), while overall in 2023-24, only Rotherham (17), Hull and Sheffield Wednesday (both 16) have conceded the opening goal in more Championship games than the Lilywhites (15).
- Leeds’ Georginio Rutter (goal) and Crysencio Summerville (assist) combined for the sixth time in the Championship this season, more than any other pair. Indeed, they’ve created 39 chances for one another (Rutter - 20, Summerville - 19), only Finn Azaz and Morgan Whittaker have done so more times in the competition in 2023-24 (40).
Odds correct at 1500 GMT (19/01/24)
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