Mark Lawrenson slams Leeds United's 'naive' defending and makes Newcastle United scoreline prediction

Writing in his weekly predictions column for BBC Sport, pundit Mark Lawrenson backed a 2-0 victory for Marcelo Bielsa's men.

Despite tipping Leeds to pick up a win, the ex-Liverpool man was less than complimentary about the Whites' back line, and contended: "Leeds are naive at the back and that is going to cost them at times this season."

"Yes, they created some good opportunities against West Ham on Friday night but the flipside of that was that the Hammers were able to play right through them.

He concluded: "I don't see this Newcastle side doing that to them though, so it might just come down to whether Marcelo Bielsa's team can take their chances this time."

Meanwhile, Lawro's opponent for the midweek fixtures, Travis bass player Dougie Payne, opted for a 2-1 Leeds win.

He said: "Like a lot of people, I am really loving watching Leeds play. They have been so entertaining. Newcastle?"

Last time the two sides met, back in 2017 at St James' Park, a dramatic late Chris Wood goal saw the Whites snatch a 1-1 draw in the 90th minute of their Championship encounter.

Newcastle boast a formidable record against Leeds, having lost just once in their last ten meetings and winning seven of the encounters.

The Whites last defeated the Magpies back in 2002, as Mark Viduka and Alan Smith helped them secure a 2-0 win.