Friday night fright for Leeds
I think we’ve seen enough from Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds already to suggest they’ll both be in the shake-up for promotion come May. Which of the two Yorkshire rivals finishes the highest is still anybody’s guess but I see Wednesday getting the better of a fast and furious derby match on Friday night.
The Owls are finally waking up
It appears manager Jos Luhukay is starting to get the hang of what’s required in the Championship. Since arriving at Hillsborough in January, the Dutchman has overseen a mixed set of results as well as a fifteenth-place finish. But evidence of the tide beginning to turn was demonstrated with their latest result: a hard fought but notable victory at Villa Park.
The win, their third in five games, has seen The Owls climb to tenth where only 4 points separates them from where Leeds are perched at the Championship summit. They’ll be seeking to reduce that gap with a second win in a week, as well as gain some momentum with West Brom and Middlesbrough up next on home soil where they are so far unbeaten and proving hard to beat.
Key to their chances will be Scottish ever presents Barry Bannan, instrumental defensively and offensively from the middle of the park, and Steven Fletcher responsible for leading the line expertly and netting the superb winner against Villa to see the hosts the side come into this in much the better shape.
Form guide – Last 5
- Ipswich Town (h) W 2-1
- Reading (a) – W 1-2
- Stoke City (h) – D 2-2
- Nottingham Forest (a) – L 2-1
- Aston Villa (a) – W 1-2
Wheels starting to come off for Leeds?
Leeds started the campaign like a house on fire and have occupied first place pretty much from the get-go. But one win from their last four including a first defeat of the season to a Birmingham side who hadn’t won a game prior to doing so in comfortable fashion at Elland Road, has left many to ponder whether this is the beginning of the annual Leeds collapse.
To be fair, the Championship is always likely to serve up a shock while Marcelo Biesla will point to an injury crisis that has denied him some important players of late – the likes of Patrick Bamford, Kemar Roofe, Pablo Hernadez had all played a key part initially before bad luck struck, the return of the latter duo particularly important to any potential promotion bid.
Biesla will see it imperative his side return to winning ways as soon as possible but will also value the importance of not getting beat for a second successive game, especially a high profile encounter such as this in which they were crushed 3-0 last year. This leads me to think he’ll be happy for his team to take point at Hillsborough, a good result all things considering but one that’ll see Leeds sacrifice top spot.
Form guide – Last 5
- Norwich (a) – W 0-3
- Middlesbrough (h) – D 0-0
- Millwall (a) – D 1-1
- Preston (h) – W 3-0
- Birmingham (h) L 1-2
Match Tip
One poor result doesn’t turn a good team into a bad one overnight, especially in the Championship where each team is capable of beating the other regardless of league position. I’m convinced Leeds will be there or thereabouts come the end of the campaign but this would’ve been the last match they'd picked right now taking injuries into account.
Wednesday, backed by a near sell-out crowd, will be relishing the chance to get one over their arch rivals for a second year running. I’m backing them to get a result but the unpredictability of a derby match has seen me stop short of backing The Owls to win outright.
Betting on Sheffield Wednesday DNB still produces juicy enough odds of 11/8 (2.38) via Unibet though and so I won't be thinking twice about going down this road.
