Free betting tips and match preview: Sky Bet Championship - Leeds United v Barnsley
Thursday night football in the Sky Bet Championship comes from Elland Road where Leeds will move to within a point of a Premier League return with victory over Barnsley.
Recommended bets
1pt Luke Ayling to have 2+ total shots at 7/4
1pt Luke Ayling to have 1+ shots on target at 2/1
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Leeds v Barnsley (Sky Sports Football, 17:00 BST)
Victory for Leeds here could see them become a Premier League club before they kick another ball. Should Brentford or West Brom drop points on Friday/Saturday, Marcelo Bielsa's men will secure promotion.
They sit in a good position; three points clear of third with this fixture being a game in-hand. There may be added pressure that comes with playing after your promotion rivals but Leeds know victory here will be huge in their quest to reach the top-tier of English football.
In Barnsley, they take on a side who failed to capitalise in recent fixtures against relegation rivals Luton, Wigan and Stoke. Two points from a possible nine has left them bottom of the standings.
There's a reason why they are 10/1 outsiders and Leeds sitting at -1.5 on the Asian Handicap shows that the money is behind a comfortable home win. The Whites' Thursday outing last week resulted in a 5-0 hammering of Stoke.
Leeds will be without Kalvin Phillips here after he picked up an injury in their win over Swansea. Ben White will take his role in midfield and Gaetano Berardi will return to the line-up in defence. It's not ideal, but even without Phillips they should have enough.
The hosts should be on the front foot throughout and that means there is decent value on offer in the shots market. Leeds had a total of 19 in their comfortable victory over Stoke and we can expect similar against another relegation-threatened side.
Luke Ayling was targeted as a player who was worth backing in that game against Stoke, and while he didn't hit the two total shots required, his performance against Swansea provides enough confidence to back the selection again.
The defender had two shots in the away win in South Wales with three at Blackburn the weekend before. Sky Bet have Ayling at 7/4 to have two or more total shots in this contest and it's worth taking that value based on his recent showings.
With that in mind, the 2/1 on one of those shots being on target is also worth a play. He's got four goals on his tally already this season and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see Ayling on the scoresheet again against Barnsley.
Ultimately, this should be a game where Leeds emerge victorious, that is indicated in their short price, but their -1 handicap price floats just short of even money and that provides the best outright bet in this contest.
Score prediction: Leeds 2-0 Barnsley (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Odds correct at 2100 BST (15/07/20)
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