Leeds United will be looking to continue their encouraging start to the 2020-21 Premier League season when they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Elland Road on Monday night.
The Whites are currently eighth in the table with seven points to show from their four matches, while Wolves occupy 13th, having picked up six points from their four fixtures this term.
Match preview
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Marcelo Bielsa's side started their Premier League season with an incredible 4-3 defeat at Liverpool, but it would be fair to say that their performance against the champions made a huge impression.
The Whites were on the right end of a 4-3 scoreline at home to Fulham one week later before making it back-to-back victories in the Premier League with a 1-0 success away to Sheffield United at the end of September.
The month of October also started in impressive fashion for Leeds as they held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw, with Rodrigo Moreno's second-half strike cancelling out a first-half effort from Raheem Sterling.
As it stands, the promoted side are eighth in the table, and it will be fascinating to see how the team perform in their first Premier League campaign since 2003-04.
It has been a long time coming for Leeds in terms of returning to this level and another positive result against Wolves would be a further indication that the team are heading firmly in the right direction.
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Wolves, meanwhile, started their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory at Sheffield United before losing their next two against Man City and West Ham United.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side did return to winning ways at home to Fulham last time out, but it was not a particularly convincing performance, and it would be fair to say that the team are still working their way into the season.
Wolves have actually potentially set the example for Leeds, having finished seventh in their two seasons in the Premier League since winning the Championship in 2017-18.
Nuno will view his team's next three games against Leeds, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace as vitally important, particularly as they have clashes with Leicester City, Arsenal and Liverpool to come soon after.
The tight nature of the division at this stage means that a win here would propel Wolves up the table, and they have won their last three games with the Whites, including a 3-0 victory at Elland Road in March 2018.
Leeds United Premier League form: LWWD
Leeds United form (all competitions): LLWWD
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form: WLLW
Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions): WLLLW
Team News
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Bielsa is likely to wait until the final moment to decide on Leeds captain Liam Cooper, who is a fitness doubt after picking up a groin injury while on international duty for Scotland.
Diego Llorente is definitely out with a groin problem that he suffered while with the Spain squad, though, while Adam Forshaw, Gaetano Berardi and Kiko Casilla are also unavailable for selection.
Jack Harrison is available again after missing out against parent club Man City before the international break, and the attacker is expected to come back into the XI at the expense of Ezgjan Alioski.
New arrival Raphinha, meanwhile, could be set for a place on the home side's bench.
As for Wolves, there could be a start for Adama Traore as the expected open nature of the contest is likely to suit the attacker, who linked up with the Spain squad during the recent international break.
The visitors will have their Portuguese players available, meanwhile, despite suggestions that they could be forced to quarantine after Cristiano Ronaldo tested positive for coronavirus.
Jonny Castro is definitely out for the visitors with a knee problem, but Fernando Marcal should recover from a calf knock to feature as the left-sided wing-back, while Daniel Podence is likely to be handed a role in attack.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Ayling, Cooper, Koch, Dallas; Costa, Rodrigo, Phillips, Klich, Harrison; Bamford
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Boly, Coady, Kilman; Semedo, Dendoncker, Neves, Marcal; Traore, Jimenez, Podence
We say: Leeds United 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
This has all of the makings of an excellent game of football at Elland Road. Both sides will be keen to get on the ball and dictate the play, and it should be an open contest. There has not actually been a draw between the pair since February 2013, but we are finding it difficult to separate them on this occasion.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:dataVideo prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leeds United win with a probability of 45.24%. A win for Wolverhampton Wanderers had a probability of 28.65% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leeds United win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.06%) and 2-0 (8.19%). The likeliest Wolverhampton Wanderers win was 0-1 (8.51%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.41%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood.
