Leeds United vs Watford. Premier League.
Elland RoadAttendance36,261.
Patrick Bamford and Luke Ayling missing for Leeds while Tom Cleverley faces late assessment; follow Leeds vs Watford in our dedicated live match blog; watch free match highlights on Sky Sports digital platforms and YouTube channel at 5.15pm
Saturday 2 October 2021 08:47, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Leeds vs Watford in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.
Leeds will be without Patrick Bamford and Luke Ayling for their home Premier League game against Watford.
Striker Bamford has not recovered from an ankle injury and right-back Ayling requires minor knee surgery, but winger Raphinha (hip) is available after being forced out of last week's home defeat to West Ham and defender Diego Llorente (muscle strain) is also back in contention.
Germany defender Robin Koch remains sidelined with a troublesome pelvic injury and midfielder Adam Forshaw (muscle strain) is still out.
Watford midfielder Peter Etebo suffered a torn quad muscle in last weekend's draw with Newcastle and is set to miss "four to five months" according to boss Xisco Munoz.
It is a blow for the Hornets but could see summer arrival Ozan Tufan handed a full debut at Elland Road.
Tom Cleverley will also be part of the travelling squad after he passed concussion return-to-training protocols following a blow to the face against the Magpies while goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann (knee) is fit again.
Follow Leeds vs Watford in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel at 5.15pm.
Is it time to worry about Leeds? No wins from their six matches is far from an ideal start.
However, they have had a difficult run of fixtures having already played three of last year's top six and their key metrics going forward read well in terms of comparing their numbers from last season. They'll be just fine.
In fixtures like these where Leeds face off against a genuine relegation threatened outfit, it's most certainly worth backing them as their man-to-man style usually sees their extra quality shine through. Since promotion, in 11 fixtures against teams in the bottom five of the Premier League, Leeds have won eight scoring 23 times in the process. A Leeds win with both teams to score looks the play at 9/4 with Sky Bet.
With Patrick Bamford still missing for Leeds, his team-mates are going to have to step up to replace his threat. One of the more underrated players in the Leeds team for a goal is Mateusz Klich, who is given a huge amount of licence to drive into the box. Klich has had 13 touches in the opposition box in his last two matches and has posted an expected goal figure of 0.59 from his seven shots on goal. I'd recommend taking the 9/1 with Sky Bet for him to score the first goal with the added bonus that he's likely to be on penalties in the absence of Bamford.
SCORE PREDICTION: 3-1
BETTING ANGLE: Mateusz Klich to score first (9/1 with Sky Bet)
