Leeds v Nottingham Forest
Monday 1st January, 15:00
Live on Sky Sports
Monday 1st January, 15:00
Live on Sky Sports
Leeds' winning streak ended
Leeds' four-match winning spree came to a surprising end on Saturday as Thomas Christiansen's team fell to a 1-0 reverse at rock-bottom Birmingham. The below-par Whites failed to create any clear-cut opportunities until Pablo Hernandez's strike was palmed onto the top of the crossbar by David Stockdale.
Christiansen felt his side were unfortunate not to pick up a share of the spoils at St Andrew's, describing the encounter as a "horrible game". United managed only two on-target efforts and fired in just two attempts from inside the penalty area in a blunt attacking display.
Samu Saiz made an inspired appearance off the bench against Birmingham and is expected to be handed a starting role in place of Pawel Cibicki here whilst Christiansen will hope to have Eunan O'Kane and Ronaldo Vieira back in his squad after both missed the trip to the Midlands.
Manager-less Nottingham Forest
Mark Warburton was sacked as Nottingham Forest manager on New Year's Eve following the Tricky Trees' 1-0 home defeat to struggling Sunderland on Saturday. Forest have collected a sole success in seven outings and have suffered the joint second-highest number of defeats in the Championship this season (14).
Academy manager Gary Brazil takes over as caretaker manager and will be hoping for a little more luck in front of goal here. Forest won the shot count 22-1 against Sunderland but couldn't find a way past goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter; striker Daryl Murphy missing three presentable chances.
Warburton was particularly frustrated with the Tricky Trees' meek second-half efforts and so Brazil may look to freshen things up at Elland Road with Mustapha Carayol, Tyler Walkerand Zach Clough all options. Elsewhere, David Vaughan remains a doubt with Matt Mills, Chris Cohen and Jack Hobbs all sidelined.
Forest's wretched road record
Six wins in nine have propelled Leeds 1.94 back into the top-six and the Whites' excellent Elland Road record makes them an attractive betting proposition on New Year's Day. United have W3-D1-L0 in their last four when welcoming Championship opposition and claimed six triumphs in 10 here further back.
Only bottom-club Birmingham (9) have lost more often on their travels this term than Nottingham Forest (8) and the Tricky Trees' road record since the start of last season makes for rather alarming reading: W5-D6-L24.
Dig a little deeper and Forest 4.50 have been beaten in 15 of their most recent 18 trips to top-half clubs whilst it's not eight consecutive away-day losses when visiting top-six sides. Such trends make the guests well worth opposing here.
Goals could flow at Elland Road
Meetings between Leeds and Nottingham Forest have tended to be tight affairs with seven of their last eight head-to-head encounters resulting in Under 2.5 Goals 1.92 winners. However, evidence suggests Monday's match-up could go against the grain at Elland Road.
Leeds have recorded only four shutouts in their last 10 games at their West Yorkshire base, three of which arrived against clubs occupying bottom-six berths. Considering Forest have found the back of the net in all bar two of their games as guests this season, both sides getting on the scoresheet appeals.
But seeing as the Tricky Trees have conceded at least twice in 10 of their 12 road trips and we're already supporting a home success, backing Over 2.5 Goals at 1.99 looks well worth an interest.
