Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has backed Leeds United to beat Reading on Saturday, but has also voiced concerns over the wasteful nature of Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Prutton notes that while we picked up a “massive” result against Bristol City last time out, the match once again displayed the never-ending way that United manage to produce numerous chances in front of the goal but often fail to score.
Continuing to rely on one goal to win games when we produce so many chances can easily derail our bid for promotion in the Premier League, though Prutton does not expect Leeds will lose against Reading on Saturday.
“Leeds picked up a massive win against Bristol City last week, but once again they looked like a side who do not take enough chances – relying on a goal from Luke Ayling to win the game,” Prutton noted in his column for Sky Sports.
“Reading got a superb win last week against Sheffield Wednesday and it was good to see George Puscas back among the goals. He was tipped for big things when he signed but has not quite hit the heights so far.
“I think Leeds will sneak another [1-0] home win.”
How many goals will we score v Reading?
None
One
Two
Three+
Altogether the Whites managed 20 shots as a team against the Robins, per WhoScored data, but only six of those were on target while only two came after the break as Stuart Dallas, Jack Harrison and Jean-Kevin Augustin each saw second-half strikes miss the mark.
Right-back Ayling was responsible for a quarter of our total 20 shots last weekend and while he scored, the 28-year-old did so with his only effort on target.
Patrick Bamford had a relatively quiet afternoon by his standards with only two shots – one on target – compared to previous displays like against Millwall (nine shots), Wigan Athletic (seven shots), QPR, Preston and Nottingham Forest (six shots).
Bamford’s efforts up top in the Championship this season have been more than any other player in the league, per Sofa Score, though only striking 41 of his league-high 98 shots on target and missing a league-high 21 big chances means the 26-year-old boasts just a 12% conversion rate.
The Grantham-born hitman has struggled to hit the mark of late, too, with only one goalscoring display in his last nine second-tier outings.
In other Leeds United news, Victor Orta has been tipped to forge a summer raid to land a 10-goal wonderkid.