LEEDS UNITED have gone into a tailspin at the worst possible time and desperately need to halt their descent when they host Leicester City in a relegation six-pointer at Elland Road.
It looked like Javi Gracia was steering Leeds towards safety when he took over from Jesse March but the new manager bounce has now given way to a terrifying crash to the ground.
A horror 5-1 loss at home to drop rivals Crystal Palace, which brought up two bets for me, was followed by an even heavier defeat when Liverpool won 6-1 at Elland Road.
Leeds shored things up a bit for their weekend trip to Fulham but still ended up losing 2-1 as goalkeeper Illan Meslier had a day to forget to help Slips Tips enjoy a profitable afternoon.
That loss has left Leeds United sitting just a point above the drop zone with six games to go so it's crucial they get back on track when fellow strugglers Leicester City come calling.
The Foxes binned Brendan Rodgers after tumbling into the bottom three and successor Dean Smith faced a daunting task lifting his demoralised squad. He was on a hiding to nothing away to Manchester City in his first game but would have taken heart from a late rally in their 3-1 Etihad defeat.
Smith then made the bold move of playing three strikers against Wolves at the King Power but it paid off as they came from behind to claim a 2-1 victory. It was enough to move them out of the bottom three on goal difference and Smith will be looking to take another huge stride to safety with another three points in Leeds.
How the bookies view it
Despite crashing to heavy defeats in their last two home games, Leeds United are the favourites here at 13/10 with BetUK. Leicester City's best price is 11/5 at BoyleSports while the draw pays 13/5 at Betfred.
Recent head to head
Leicester City have held the upper hand in this fixture of late, losing just one of the last nine meetings. It ended in a 1-1 draw when the Foxes visited Elland Road last term but Leicester won 2-0 at the King Power earlier this season.
Players to watch
Winger Jack Harrison has been in decent scoring form for Leeds, scoring three times in his last seven outings. He has gone three games without a goal so could be due one here and is 7/2 at William Hill to find the net.
Kelechi Iheanacho could never quite nail down a starting slot under Rodgers but he has scored in both games since Smith took charge. The Nigerian looked razor sharp at the weekend and is a tempting 11/4 at William Hill for anytime scorer.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's easy to see why both these sides are in trouble with Leicester going 13 games without a clean sheet and Leeds conceding in their last nine. We should see goals based on those stats but BTTS is just 13/20 at BetUK and over 2.5 goals not much better at 3/4 with Unibet.
I'd be surprised if either side won comfortably and the 13/10 on offer at McBookie for a one-goal winning margin looks good. The half-time draw also stands a chance and that's 27/20 at Unibet.
Both teams should go for it and that makes me think we could see plenty of corners. McBookie price over 6.5 Leeds corners at 11/8 and over 10.5 match corners is 11/10 at Unibet. The same firm always has decent stats bets and I like the evens on offer for Jack Harrison to have a shot on target.
This English Premier League match between Leeds United and Leicester City will be played on Apr 25, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Leeds United vs Leicester City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
