Leeds vs Cardiff prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-08-05 13:30.
After promotion to the Premier League (PL) in 2019/20 ended a 16-year absence for Leeds, their top-flight stay ending after just three seasons wouldn’t have been what they had in mind. Even the PL’s proverbial survival specialist Sam Allardyce couldn’t save Leeds last season, but the Whites have now gone from one footballing extreme to the other, with Big Sam’s resolute defensive structure being replaced by Daniel Farke’s easy on the eye football.
Farke certainly knows his way around the Championship, guiding Norwich to the title in both 2018/19 and 2020/21, but it remains to be seen whether he can work that same magic at Elland Road. It’s not just in the dugout where Leeds are much changed though, it’s a similar story on the pitch too, with some big name summer departures leaving them thin on the ground and casting doubt over whether they can make an instant return to the PL.
Having narrowly escaped relegation last season, largely down to Reading’s points deduction, Cardiff have lots to prove this campaign. Like their hosts, the Bluebirds have a new manager in the dugout, with Erol Bulut taking over in the summer after securing their Championship status wasn’t enough to prevent the axe falling on Sabri Lamouchi.
That certainly isn’t the big story at Cardiff though, with Aaron Ramsey’s spectacular return to his boyhood club in the summer dominating the headlines. What impact he has in South Wales remains to be seen, but his short term aim will undoubtedly be to help Cardiff to a victory which would mark just their third win on opening weekend across the last 11 seasons (W2, D4, L4).
Players to watch: Leeds’ Patrick Bamford scored twice in each of the last two H2Hs played between these sides at Elland Road. You’d have to go back to 2008 for Ramsey’s last goal in a Cardiff shirt, and if he’s to make the fairytale return here his impact may arrive late, with four of his last five club goals arriving after the hour mark.
Hot streak: Leeds have won their last three opening games in Championship seasons, scoring exactly three times in each.