Gut Feelings: Manchester City v Leeds United

Manchester City Football Club are looking to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table with a win at the Etihad against the relegation fighters of Leeds United. Sam Allardyce has been brought in to guide the Whites to safety over the last few weeks of the season. He will have his work cut out for him as he prepares to face an in-form City who are trophy hunting on three fronts late in the campaign. Our City Collective have peered behind the curtain and are ready to reveal what they see transpiring. First out of the tunnel is the one-and-only Manc Pete.

Manc Pete (@inuisibilem) - Bitter and Blue

Despite taking a bit of time to get going on Wednesday, City found their form and wore the Hammers down to take a comfortable victory.

Leeds are fighting for their Premier League lives but sacking the boss with four games remaining will either prove to be lunacy or a stroke of genius.

Sam Allardyce needs to get his team working quickly, but a trip to an in-form City side will be a baptism of fire. The Whites are still a threat but suffered heavy defeats to Liverpool, Palace and Arsenal and I really can’t see them coming away from Manchester with nothing short of a hiding. It was 7-0 last season and, while I’d love that again, I’m going for a 5-0 win.

Manchester City 5-0 Leeds United

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Craig Resnik-Hanson (@CraigSporticos) – Sporticos

If you’re a coach heading to the Etihad with a centre back partnership likely made up of Robin Koch and Maximilian Wober, having conceded six, five and four goals in three of your last five matches, you would expect to have two choices. Park the bus and hope to only lose 2-0 or have a go and lose 6-2. The arrival of Sam Allardyce suggests they will go for the former. His ability to drive that bus into the middle of the goal, flip it over, spray graffiti on it and set it on fire has been remarkable over the years, but with two or three days to do so, it looks unlikely. If Leeds sit deep, and they probably will, City will pass the ball around from side to side until they find openings and win by one or two. It’s just so hard to keep them out while sustaining constant pressure for 90 minutes. Haaland will be on the lookout for more goals, and as he hopes to make his new record hard to beat for decades to come, so that doesn’t bode well for the visitors. Anything can happen in the Premier League, and “narrative” wise, a part of me does see ‘Big Sam’ grinding out a 0-0 here, but it’s a very small part.

Manchester City 2-0 Leeds United

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Dillon Meehan (@IVIeehan ) - City Report

It’s sort of fitting that Big Sam gets to be the manager to potentially throw off Pep’s chance at the treble. This game couldn’t come at a more frustrating time, the squad look gassed and Real Madrid are just on the horizon. It is the perfect opportunity for Leeds to steal a draw. I can’t decide if Kev is gonna play or not after just returning from injury, but would love for him to get some minutes at the very least. I see an INCREDIBLY nervy 1-0 win, proper run-in stuff.

Manchester City 1-0 Leeds United

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Adam Marrett (@AdamAdammarrett) - Man City Square

There hardly seems time to rest at the moment, the games coming thick and fast at the pointy end of the season. Another big game here at home to relegation threatened Leeds, and a chance to put a small gap on Arsenal before they face Newcastle. Three points here is a must.

As for the game I expect us to field a full strength team as is the norm for Pep at this time of the season, and go right at Leeds. I can’t see anyway Leeds can contend with Haaland, Grealish, Alvarez, Mahrez, Foden or De Bruyne depending on who Pep starts with, especially with Leeds defensive woes of late. I’m expecting Leeds to park the bus at the Etihad. That’s despite anything Sam Allardyce has said otherwise we know how he’s going line up tactically here in his debut game for Leeds.

I’m hoping for a early City goal to set the tone here and for us to go right at Leeds after it, and put them away so we can rest some players in the second half with a eye on the trip to the Bernabeu next week.

Manchester City 4-0 Leeds United

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Crunk Chocolate (@crunkchocolate) - Shades of Blue Podcast

Big Sam brings his bravado along with the Leeds Army to war. Manchester City chasing after a 3rd Premier League title in a row. Leeds United hunkering down to survive the fall to Championship obscurity. In his podcast with Natalie Pike “No Tippy Tappy” prior to his hiring to Leeds he explained exactly what he’d do. First was “not lose” meaning he will come to the Etihad and play the most boring brand of football shown from Leeds in a long time. Unfortunately for Sammy his mindset clashes with the identity of Leeds and I believe a match against City will be the last straw of hay that breaks the camel’s back. The camel’s back being the fragile yet defiant spirits of the Leeds players. Manchester will take 15 or 20 minutes in order to prime their engines. Don’t blink because you could miss an onslaught of goals.

Manchester CIty 3-0 Leeds United

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CITYZENDuck (@duckman4real)- Bitter and Blue

Despite the bravado with which Allardyce proclaimed he was every bit the manager that Pep, Klopp, and Arteta are, I fully expect Leeds to come to the Etihad and park the bus in front of their goal. The Whites are in trouble and Big Sam knows it. They are sat in 18th, just above Nottingham Forest on goal differential and they can ill afford to get drubbed by City if they hope to stay in the league. That being said, I like to the Sky Blues to cruise at home. With a tightly packed formation, look for long-range efforts from the midfielders to try and loosen up the defence. I’ll take goals from Rodri, John Stones, and a late tally from Erling Haaland for City victory.

Manchester CIty 3-0 Leeds United

Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images

There you have it. What do you think the outcome will be against Leeds? Let us know in the comments.