English Premier
2025-12-03 - Leeds United vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Wednesday 3rd December 2025 - Kick Off 8:15pm
This game is live on TV
Leeds United
If you are Daniel Farke, you can only be encouraged by the second half performance produced by his Leeds United players at the Etihad Stadium and the knowledge that the team are still fighting as hard as they can. Ultimately points are going to matter though and Leeds United conceded in injury time to fall to a 3-2 loss to Manchester City and the pressure is still very much on Farke to help his team find something before the January transfer window opens.
The bottom five all lost this past weekend which means Leeds United remain in 18th place in the Premier League table and inside the relegation zone thanks to an inferior goal difference compared with West Ham United. A win on Wednesday will take them out of the bottom three, at least for twenty-four hours, and Leeds United are hosting back to back Premier League games at Elland Road where they have a 2-2-2 record this season.
Leeds United earned an important home win over West Ham United at the end of October, but have since followed up with 4 straight Premier League defeats. However, it should be noted that 3 of those defeats have been against clubs that currently occupy top five positions in the table. Leeds United did take the lead against Aston Villa in the last game played at home, but were beaten 1-2, which means the last 3 at Elland Road have all ended with that scoreline. Unfortunately, the home team have lost twice in that run.
Anton Stach and Sebastian Bornauw are both doubts, while Sean Longstaff is expected to miss the remainder of the calendar year. Daniel James is another who is expected to have an extended spell on the sidelines.
Chelsea
You can always get a sense of how a manager is feeling in the press conferences that they have to undertake and Enzo Maresca is clearly pretty content with the recent performances produced by Chelsea. Two months ago reports had Maresca under the pump at Stamford Bridge, but his team have rallied for him and the 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday maintains a positive run.
The only frustration is the feeling that Chelsea might have won that game if not being reduced to ten men in the first half and The Blues are now 3rd in the Premier League table and remain 6 points behind the leaders. The Blues have a 4-1-1 away record in the Premier League where they have scored 14 goals and conceded 5.
Chelsea are not only unbeaten in 7 games in all competitions since an upset home defeat to Sunderland, but they have won 5 of those matches to really build up some momentum. They have won 5 of the last 6 away games played in all competitions since losing to Manchester United at Old Trafford in September and that includes winning each of the last 3 away Premier League games played.
Cole Palmer was an unused substitute on Sunday, but he is available. Moises Caicedo became the latest Chelsea player to be sent off in Premier League action and he begins a three game suspension. The manager has admitted he will need to keep key players fit and that might mean rests for Reece James and Wesley Fofana.
Head to Head
Chelsea beat Leeds United 3-2 in an entertaining FA Cup tie when they last met in February 2024.
Leeds United had not won any of 4 home games against Chelsea, but snapped that run with a thumping 3-0 victory at Elland Road in August 2022.
Prediction
Fans of a certain age will have no love lost for the other team in this fixture and there is still something a little special when 'Yorkshire grit' faces 'flash Cockney'.
The rivalry from the 60s and 70s is not nearly as fierce these days, but this is a big game for Leeds United and Chelsea who are at opposite ends of the Premier League table.
It is in a challenging scheduling spot with both teams having played big Premier League games this past weekend and set to head back out on Saturday.
However, points are really important for both Leeds United and Chelsea for different reasons and this has the makings of being an entertaining game.
Leeds United home games have tended to travel in that direction with the team pushed forward by a passionate Elland Road crowd. Manager Daniel Farke has been disappointed with the misfiring forwards and Leeds United have perhaps not capitalised on strong performances against Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa in recent games here, and both have ended in 1-2 defeats.
The home team will certainly feel they can test a Chelsea team that will likely have a few rotations from the one that started the 1-1 draw with Arsenal. Moises Caicedo is going to be a miss, but Enzo Maresca has to be confident his team have enough firepower to win yet another away Premier League game and improve one of the best road records in the top flight.
Cole Palmer will only add to the options and Chelsea have looked pretty confident in recent weeks.
A little under twelve months ago, Chelsea looked to be in good form in the festive period, but did end up on the wrong end of a couple of disappointing results. The defeat at Ipswich Town really comes to mind and this fixture will be a good test for The Blues to see if they are going to be capable of a longer title push than they managed last season.
Added experience makes that possible and you have to favour the away team to find a way to score the goals needed to pick up the three points.
The 0-1 scoreline looks least likely (famous last words perhaps), and so backing Chelsea to score at least twice in a win here to match Spurs and Villa looks to be an appealing price.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Leeds United 1-2 Chelsea
