Leeds vs Norwich Prediction and Betting Tips: Back Rutter to rack up the fouls

Leeds United welcome Norwich City to Elland Road on Thursday in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final. Read below our preview of the game and our best bets as both teams look to secure a place at Wembley.

Play-off first legs can often be tight affairs, and this was the case this season with both semi-finals last Sunday as Norwich against Leeds and West Brom against Southampton both finished goalless. 

The first leg at Carrow Road wasn’t one to remember with just 13 shots recorded in total and a combined expected goals figure of just 0.76xG. Daniel Farke however, will have been the happier of the two managers and his side now have the opportunity to get the job done in front of their own fans in West Yorkshire. 

Taking a look at the match result odds for Thursday’s clash and the hosts are the favourites to get the job done in 90 minutes, priced odds-on at 13/20. The draw can be backed at 3/1, while a win for Norwich can be sided with at 19/4.

At the time of writing Sky Bet are one of the few bookmakers who have priced up a player fouls market for this second leg. It’s here where we have opted to have our main bet on Thursday and the player we are drawn to is Georginio Rutter.

The Frenchman has enjoyed an excellent campaign for Leeds and racked up an impressive 15 assists. When it comes to fouls, Rutter also ranked top for Leeds when it comes to fouls given away this season racking up 74 in total in the second-tier. 

This bet has landed in four of his last seven outings including in the first leg against Norwich where he gave away two. In fact in his last two meetings with Norwich this season has given away totals of 3 and 2.

Betfair and Paddy Power have this same selection priced at just 4/7, giving plenty of appeal to the considerably bigger offering of 5/4 with Sky Bet. With a place at Wembley and potentially in the Premier League it would be no surprise to see two high foul totals here. Leeds gave away 17 on Saturday and hopefully Rutter can concede two or more once again here. 

As mentioned above, the first leg between these two was rather forgettable and we think another low-scoring affair could be on the cards in the return leg. We are therefore taking a punt on the correct score being 1-0 to Leeds, which is available at 6/1 with most firms including BetMGM. 

Norwich may also be without the services of their leading scorer, Josh Sargent, would be a significant setback for the Canaries. Ashley Barnes is also a doubt and while they have other standout attackers who can fill the gap in the attacking zone, they might still struggle to overcome the Whites on this occasion.