Leeds United are in from 16/1 to 9/4 to finish above rivals Manchester United in the 2026/27 Premier League.
There's an eerie similarity between Sunday's fixture and the last time Manchester United visited Elland Road. In early January, the Red Devils were in a dismal run of form with a manager clinging on to his job.
Michael Carrick has perhaps been granted a stay of execution owing to Lisandro Martinez's comments after the Atletico Madrid defeat, whereby the Argentine shone the spotlight on the club's technical director Jason Wilcox, and said the club cannot keep changing manager.
Leeds found themselves in the rare position of favourites for the Elland Road encounter, though the Red Devils did make the trip across the Pennines without Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo, on all AFCON duty, while Mason Mount, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes sat out through injury.
Joe Rodon missed the fixture 12 months ago and misses out again through injury, but Leeds have plenty of reason for optimism.
Daniel Farke's men are one of a cluster of sides with consistency from last season in the dugout but don't have European football distracting them, and a return to Europe is well within Leeds's grasp.
Although Leeds only have two wins to their name this season, they came at Nottingham Forest and in real style at home to Newcastle, while holding Brentford and Brighton to draws. They even went to the Emirates and took a deserved lead before being pegged back by the champions.
By contrast, Carrick's side have been lacking both technically and physically, and while the Red Devils were able to carve out a number of good opportunities in Madrid on Tuesday, they were too easy to pick apart, going down 2-0.
You have to go all the way back to 1992 -- the year before the Premier League's inception -- for the last time Leeds finished above their arch rivals in the league, when United suffered a late collapse to allow Leeds to snatch the title.
Should United's dismal run of form continue, Michael Carrick may well be replaced before any permanent damage is done, at which point the club's recovery could begin, but with the way Leeds are performing, there's every chance they finish above the 20-time English champions regardless of who is in the Old Trafford dugout...
Odds displayed in the above article correct at time of publishing and subject to change or withdrawal at any time.
