Leeds United’s first pre-season friendly is finally upon us - ahead of which the bookies have made a fairly strong call in United’s prospects of surviving a second year back in the Premier League.
Daniel Farke’s Whites are in the USA for a pre-season tour and will take in their first friendly of the summer in the early hours of Sunday morning UK time with a 12.30am kick-off against Wrexham.
Two more friendlies against Sunderland and then Liverpool will follow before home friendlies against RB Leipzig and FC Augsburg either side of a clash against Manchester United in Dublin.
After the final friendly against Augsburg it will be showtime, Leeds starting their second season back in the country’s top flight with a trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, August 22.
Forest went through four different managers in what developed into a real battle to avoid the drop, the Reds eventually finishing fifth-bottom, one point above Tottenham in their battle for survival but three points behind newly promoted Leeds who also finished two points above Crystal Palace.
Leeds finished just two points behind both Everton and Newcastle United but seven points behind fellow new boys Sunderland who now have Europa League football on the agenda after their brilliant seventh-placed finish.
But the bookies have made big calls on the some of the aforementioned teams and also Leeds in their next season relegation odds. Here, based on those odds, is how they see the final table looking.
.jpg?trim=0,218,0,218&crop=&width=800)
15. 15th: Leeds United (up from 16th)
Relegation odds: 11-2 (out from a general 5-1 but still 5s with a few firms). | Getty Images
16. 16th: Fulham (down from 15th)
Relegation odds: 11-2 (but 5s with plenty of firms and as short as 17-4 with one). | Getty Images
17. 17th: Sunderland
Relegation odds: 11-4 (As short as 9-4 with some firms). | Getty Images
18. 18th: Coventry City (relegated)
Relegation odds: 5-6 (as short as 4-7 with some firms). | Getty Images