Leeds Utd – Nottingham Forest

The home team will be closer to victory

Quite a curious showdown will take place in the opening match of the 25th round of the English Premier League at Elland Road. Leeds United last season convincingly won the Championship and hoped to cement their place in the country's top division. Now one can say that Daniel Farke is close to solving this task, but it's still very early for the Peacocks to relax. The team sits in sixteenth place in the table, six points behind the relegation zone's last club — West Ham United. Judging by the fact that the Hammers, under Nuno Santo, have begun playing higher-quality football, the relegation battle has prospects of moving into a sharp phase. Besides West Ham, Leeds United's main rival is their closest opponent, Nottingham Forest. After making a significant leap last season, the Nottingham Forest management, after a few rounds at the start of the season, dismissed the aforementioned Santo and appointed Ange Postecoglou. The Australian soon also fell out of favor and was replaced by Sean Dyche. The latter somewhat leveled the team's play and produced a couple of good results, but Nottingham Forest cannot yet be compared to its last season's form. Nottingham Forest have accumulated a similar number of points to Leeds United and are in the same league position. Betting agencies have made the home side the favorites for the Elland Road meeting, offering odds of 2.21 on their victory. Leeds United started the season quite poorly, but subsequently improved their play. In December and early January, Farke's side went seven matches in a row without defeat. During this period they took points off Liverpool twice and also beat Chelsea and Crystal Palace. Importantly, all of Leeds United's wins in this Premier League season have come at Elland Road, except for the one at Wolverhampton. At Elland Road they managed to beat only Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Aston Villa. Nottingham Forest, with all due respect, are not at the level of the aforementioned clubs this season. The visitors have won only two of their last eight Premier League matches. During this period they can truly be proud of only a draw with Arsenal. In the upcoming contest, the hosts have far greater chances of success.