BOTH Newcastle and Leeds are still waiting to claim their first three points of the season so that should lead to a lively fixture between the pair at St James' Park on Friday night,
A distinct lack of transfer activity on Tyneside over the summer has coincided with a winless start to the Premier League season for the Magpies.
Steve Bruce's side have only picked up a single point from their opening four league games, which came courtesy of conceding an agonising 96th-minute equaliser against Southampton.
Of course, toppling Manchester United at Old Trafford last Saturday was always going to be a tall order, and so it proved, but Bruce will have earmarked this fixture as one where three points are attainable.
As for Leeds, it's not been a disastrous start to the campaign by any means, but Marcelo Bielsa will have been hoping for more than just two points from the four opening Premier League matches.
The Whites have suffered heavy defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool, either side of stalemates with both Everton and Burnley respectively.
Outright Betting
Newcastle have won just six of their last 21 Premier League home matches and the Toon head into this tussle as slight outsiders at 21/10 with SBK while the same firm go 11/4 (SBK) on a share of the spoils.
Leeds emerged victorious at this venue last season and the same outcome on Friday night pays 11/8 at SBK.
Betting Angles
It's difficult to have much faith in either team here so I'm going to steer clear of the outright betting and instead dip into Bet 365's Bet Builder.
Combining over one match goal, over seven match corners and over two match cards brings about a backable 4/5 (Bet 365) play.
Goals were a regular feature of Newcastle home games last season, with both teams making the net bulge in a league-high 14/19 Magpies home matches last term.
That trend is showing no signs of slowing down, with BTTS banking in 3/4 Toon matches this term while the same combination has clicked in three of Leeds' opening four fixtures.
As such, I'm more than happy to side with over one strike at St James' Park, but in order to nudge up the price, I'll throw over seven match corners into the mix.
The visitors' 11.58 match corner per game average was the highest of any top-tier side last season and the early signs are that will continue, with Leeds games averaging 11.25 flag kicks per 90 minutes in the early weeks of the new campaign.
To round off the Bet Builder I'll back over two match cards to be shown in what should be a closely-fought contest under the St James' Park lights on Friday night.
Referee Mike Dean has a reputation for being card-happy but it's also worth noting that the aforementioned Bet Builder has landed in each of Leeds four Premier League outings this season
With that in mind, I'll head back to the Bet Builder market and also combine each team to see over zero cards and over three match cards, another 4/5 shot at Bet 365.
The above-mentioned card bet has copped in two of Dean's three outings this term and I see no reason to oppose a repeat at St James' Park given that we have all the ingredients required for an entertaining match-up.
This English Premier League match between Newcastle United and Leeds United will be played on Sep 17, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Newcastle United vs Leeds United prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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