Leeds United appear to have steadied themselves as far as their Premier League status is concerned. Daniel Farke guided them well clear of the drop zone last term and the early signs are that they can enjoy another successful campaign. They host Newcastle on Monday night aiming to build on a point landed at Brighton last weekend and the omens look good.
Newcastle claimed a 2-0 win at Tottenham in their first away game and managed to escape with a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth after playing out the same scoreline versus Liverpool in their first match. Matthias Jaissle will be confident that his team can continue scoring, with Harvey Barnes, Anthony Elanga and Yoann Wissa all carrying a threat.
Leeds v Newcastle Betting Markets
Leeds United are searching for their first home win of the season and they're trading at 2.30 to beat Newcastle on Monday. That suggests that they have a 44% chance of recording a victory against a fellow northern side who have also collected five points from their opening three games. Leeds began the campaign with a 1-0 victory at the City Ground before returning there days later to win 2-0 in the Carabao Cup.
Since then, they have drawn 1-1 at home to Brentford and then achieved the same scoreline on the road at Brighton. The defence appears to be rock solid despite the absence of Joe Rodon, with Tarik Muharemovic proving to be an astute purchase at the centre of defence and he operates in front of James Trafford.
Leeds will therefore be defensively stingy although much comes down to their propensity to score goals. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is generally a class act although the Yorkshire side are only averaging a goal per game right now and perhaps Newcastle will be able to outscore their opponents given their rate of scoring.
Matthias Jaissle saw his team serve it up against Liverpool before drawing 2-2 and that was followed by a 2-0 win at Tottenham. They trailed for a good part of their recent clash against Bournemouth before landing a 2-2 draw, with Harvey Barnes at the double in that clash. It appears that the Magpies are coping favourably considering that Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali departed in the summer.
Considering that the two teams have drawn two of their three respective games, then it could well be the case that we see a 1-1 or 2-2 scoreline. The draw is certainly where we could be headed with a match result bet.
Goals Under/Over
There's two potential ways that this game could go. Newcastle United are more attack-minded than their opponents and have already played out a couple of 2-2 draws. It suggests that we could see the goal tally go over 2.5 here, although their first away match ended in a 2-0 victory so they do have the defence to achieve a shut out on the road.
As for Leeds, all three of their games thus far have been Under 2.5. Daniel Farke has taken a pragmatic approach and there are five points on the board. It hasn't stopped the bookies from making Over 2.5 the slight favourite here. There could be merit in going for the unders considering that Leeds seem to run a tight defensive ship.
Nevertheless, Leeds did have five shots on target at Brighton but that came after managing just two efforts on goal at home to Brentford.
BTTS
The BTTS Yes price is trading considerably shorter than BTTS No here. The former has been the outcome in two of the three matches involving both Leeds and Newcastle. The fact that the Magpies have played out two 2-2 draws already highlights their ability to score goals. Their other match involved a 2-0 success at Tottenham so it's hard to bet against them finding the net considering their average right now.
Matthias Jaissle has set up a team to go in search of goals, with Yoane Wissa operating in the number ten position, with Harvey Barnes having found the net against Bournemouth after previously notching two against West Brom in the Carabao Cup. Anthony Elanga also carries a threat from out wide and the former Nottingham Forest man has two on the board already.
We can be confident that Newcastle will score and also that Leeds are likely to find the net. They might only be averaging a goal per game but that still suggests that they'll be on target here. We can expect them to create more chances than the opening home match, with Leeds managing to notch twenty-nine times across their nineteen clashes at Elland Road last term.
First Goalscorer
Leeds will hope that Dominic Calvert-Lewin can stay fit this season as they don't really have a quality striker waiting in the wings should he get injured. The former Everton man was on target against Brentford to equalise and will be hungry to get on the scoresheet again in front of the home supporters. He scored fifteen times last term and should be considered for a goal involvement here.
Noah Okafor is still waiting for his first goal although the Swiss did find the net six times last season from February onwards. We also know about Anton Stach's prowess from free-kicks after the German fired home at the City Ground on the opening day to deliver three points for Leeds.
Newcastle are dripping with attacking quality and our vote probably goes to Yoane Wissa considering that the former Brentford man is likely to be on penalties. This class act can get into some good scoring positions, while Harvey Barnes is setting out to make this a strong season and he can benefit from the departure of Anthony Gordon.
Anthony Elanga's pace could cause problems although Leeds might be wise to him and not defend too high up the pitch. At a bigger price, perhaps Lewis Hall is capable of getting into a good scoring position from full-back.
