Leeds v Portsmouth

Leeds United vs Portsmouth Preview

Leeds United are most probably still kicking themselves after losing 1-0 to Southampton in last season's Championship play-off final and the Yorkshire club must be wondering how it even got to that stage having previously put together a seemingly promotion-winning sequence of results, while Portsmouth return to the English second tier after a 12-year hiatus following automatic promotion from League One at the end of last season.

Leeds United had previously put together an impressive 15-match unbeaten sequence in the Championship from the start of the new year through to early April which included collecting 12 wins during that purple patch of form and that had helped the Yorkshire club into second place in the table.

However, following a 3-1 home win against Hull City in early April, Leeds United managed just two further wins in their subsequent nine games overall with victories gained over Middlesbrough and Norwich City, the latter being in the play-off semi-finals, but the hosts had also slipped to five defeats in this period as well.

Defeats towards the end of the season to Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, QPR and Southampton proved to be just the precursor to their play-off final loss which denied Leeds a place in the Premier League.

Portsmouth by contrast were celebrating a triumphant return to the Championship having not only sealed automatic promotion back to the Championship after a long 12-year wait but the south coast club also clinched the Championship league title in the process, finishing five points ahead of runners-up, Derby County.

It's been a long road back to the second tier for the south coast club who found themselves plying their trade as far down the English pyramid as League Two at one stage, so this upcoming season will certainly be a highly anticipated one for Portsmouth fans.

The visitors achieved deserved promotion as they ended last season losing just once in their final 19 league matches in the English third tier, collecting no fewer than 13 wins in the process as John Mousinho's side veritably cruised through the finish line and the visitors will be hoping that momentum continues into this upcoming campaign in the Championship as well.

In addition, Portsmouth have lost just once in their last 15 outings on the road in all competitions while both teams have not scored in 10 of these 15 away games as well, thus indicating that this upcoming clash may result in a low-scoring affair.

Leeds United v Portsmouth Verdict

The last two meetings between Leeds United and Portsmouth have resulted in low-scoring games and both games also resulted in only one team scoring as well.

In addition, Leeds United have lost the services of influential forward Crysencio Summerville to West Ham who contributed 19 goals and nine assists last season.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS No @ 1.83

Other side bets worth considering:

Portsmouth win @ 7.50

Correct Score: Portsmouth win & Under 2.5 goals @ 15.00