Sunderland vs Leeds prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-12-11 20:00.
The football world was rocked last week after Tony Mowbray was sacked as Sunderland manager, despite them reaching the previous play-offs in their return to the Championship and maintaining a respectable challenge this season. After he oversaw a 2-1 win over West Brom in his first game as caretaker boss, Mike Dodds will continue on here as he bids to secure Sunderland back-to-back wins for the first time in over two months.
That victory moved Sunderland back into the play-off picture and they look well placed to end their wait for a pair of wins given they’ve won three of their last four here at the Stadium of Light (L1). However, a visit from high-flying Leeds United may put the brakes on for the Mackems, who have lost eight of their last ten home league H2Hs against the Yorkshire club (W2).
A 41 point haul would usually have been enough to see Leeds in an automatic promotion spot at this stage, yet with Ipswich and Leicester holding the two highest points totals of any side after 20 games in the EFL Championship era, the visitors can’t afford to take their eye off the ball. Now unbeaten in nine of their last 11 league games (W9, D1, L1), Leeds should be full of confidence ahead of their trip to the North East.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke hailed his men for producing a “massive win” in a 2-0 success over Blackburn last weekend, especially as that game ended a four-game sequence in which they hadn’t kept a clean sheet. Now on the cusp of winning four straight league games for the first time since the 2020/21 campaign, Farke must buck his winless H2H record against Sunderland to make that a reality (D1, L1).
Players to watch: Former Leeds man Jack Clarke leads the way for Sunderland with ten Championship goals whilst he has also created a league-high 44 chances from open play this term, albeit only managing one assist. In red-hot form at the moment, Leeds’ Dan James has netted in three successive games – never before has he scored in four in a row.
Hot stat: Leeds failed to win five of their last seven Championship away games as pre-match favourites (W2, D2, L3).