Sutton United vs Leeds Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Sutton will be gunning to make history by reaching the 5th Round but it’s a big ask against a strong Leeds side that are having an excellent season. Gary Monk’s men come here as clear favourites with the bookies as you might expect but there still looks to be value in backing the visitors to claim the win given the gulf in class between the sides.

One obstacle that could make Leeds’ job a little harder is Sutton’s artificial pitch but it is worth noting they progressed in the last round against Wimbledon, thanks to an away win in the replay having drawn the first match at home. They do have a strong home record overall in the National League but have suffered 3 home defeats including a 6-0 hammering at the hands of Dover. They’ve only won one of their last 6 matches overall if you exclude Extra Time from the equation and are only 15th in the National League, so their league season hasn’t been an exceptional one and they will need to raise their game a couple of notches to compete against the side 3rd in the Championship.

84 places separate the sides in the English football pyramid so you might expect Leeds to be a little shorter than 4/6 to win this game, especially given the kind of season they are having. They’ve won 7 of their last 9 games in all competitions with their only defeat coming when they were missing their first-choice central defensive pairing at Barnsley.

Their 3rd Round tie at Cambridge is also well worth looking at when placing a bet on this game. It was also away from home against lower league opposition, although Cambridge play in a higher tier than Sutton. It took place just 4 days before a key Championship game against Derby yet Gary Monk still named a strong side and despite not being at their best, Leeds found a way to win.

The circumstances are quite similar here, with Leeds in action in midweek against Blackburn. Monk may rest top scorer Chris Wood as he did in the last round but there should still be plenty of regulars in his starting line-up and he won’t want to lose any momentum nor be forced into a replay.

With Wood perhaps on the sidelines, much of their goal threat is likely to come from Souleymane Doukara, who has looked lively too and netted last time out against Forest just 2 minutes after his introduction. He is likely to be rewarded with a start here and backing Doukara to score anytime at 13/10 could be worth a punt.

Leeds have been very consistent this season and have an excellent defensive record in the league, where they’ve let in only 0.96 goals per game. Sutton have only netted 1.1 goals per game in the National League so they are unlikely to cause huge problems for their more illustrious visitors and Leeds should have just enough quality at the other end to seal the win.

Therefore, backing Leeds to win at 4/6 looks like the way to go here.