Prediction & odds for the game: Leeds (11/10) v West Ham (9/4) – ST is backing the draw

When: Friday, 11th December @ 8pm K.O

Where: Elland Road

Leeds United will battle it out with West Ham United on Friday Night Football in an interesting clash between two exciting Premier League sides.

Leeds

The Marcelo Bielsa rollercoaster ride is still in operation for Leeds United, and after a thrilling start to the season, Leeds are still being viewed as a team that could make a real push for the top half. Whether or not they can go beyond that in their first year back in the big time remains to be seen, but the main aim for them would’ve been to avoid relegation – and we’re pretty confident in saying that they’ll be able to do that.

The 3-0 win over Aston Villa reminded fans of just how dangerous Leeds are, but since then, they’ve only picked up one other win in the league and that was a 1-0 success against Everton. Aside from that they’ve been humbled 4-1 by Leicester and Crystal Palace, beaten by Chelsea 3-1, and have drawn 0-0 with Arsenal in a game they probably should’ve won.

West Ham

There was a whole lot of criticism being directed at West Ham before a ball had even been kicked in the Premier League this season, and yet, they’ve managed to be one of the surprise packages of the campaign so far. David Moyes has figured out how to get this team playing in a way that has really put the cat amongst the pigeons in the top half, and if they can bring in a few big names in January, they could really be onto something between now and May.

West Ham, very similarly to Leeds, went 1-0 up in their last game before losing 3-1 – with the only difference being that their defeat was at the hands of Manchester United. They also lost to Liverpool but outside of those defeats, they’ve had a lot of success as of late with wins over Aston Villa, Sheffield United and Fulham as well as a draw against Manchester City.

Conclusion

Both of these sides have a lot of interesting options at their disposal and as a result of that, we’re expecting quite an open, attacking affair with plenty of chances for either team. West Ham have more confidence but Leeds are probably just a bit more fine tuned as a unit which is why we’re expecting them to take the lead. However, the Hammers are where they are in the table for a reason, and we back them to equalise and secure a point.

Our official scoreline prediction is 1-1, meaning that we’re going to be backing the under 2.5 goals market.

Verdict: Back the draw at odds of 13/5 and the under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 11/8 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Leeds vs West Ham then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures at the soccer predictions page ahead of what is bound to be a thrilling month of Premier League action in December.