Leeds United have taken five points from their last three games – a tough run of fixtures that included Chelsea, Liverpool and Brentford – and now return home to West Yorkshire, looking to maintain their momentum as they welcome Crystal Palace to Elland Road Saturday night.
On Sunday, the Whites travelled to London to face Brentford with the Bees having one of the Premier League’s best home records. But Daniel Farke’s side were well on top throughout and earned a deserved draw thanks to a sparkling Willy Gnonto assist and a poised header from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The week before, United beat high-flying champions Chelsea 3-1 and came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to draw against reigning Premier League champions Liverpool! Both those performances came in front of a raucous Elland Road crowd and the Whites will once more look to feed off their home supporters’ energy on Saturday.
Top scorer Calvert-Lewin will be aiming to net his fifth goal in as many games to match his career-best goalscoring form with Everton. The United attacker’s four consecutive games scoring is tied with Manchester City’s Phil Foden as the longest active streak in Europe’s top five leagues.
Farke’s team are currently 17th in the table after the first 16 matches, 10 points behind fifth placed Palace, who are once more fighting for European qualification under Oliver Glasner. The Eagles qualified for the UEFA Conference League this season by winning the FA Cup and during the week drew 2-2 with Finnish outfit KuPS.
Though the Eagles lost to City 3-0 in their last league game, they have beaten Liverpool twice this season and only lost four times in the league.
Over the years, there have been some memorable encounters between the two teams. The Whites and the Eagles have faced off against one another 52 times, with Leeds winning 24 and drawing 13 of those matches, dating back to a League Cup encounter in 1962 that United won 2-1.
Most memorably in recent times, a 93rd minute Raphinha goal secured all three points for Leeds in 2021 in a match that saw eight yellow cards. The season before, the Whites had also defeated the Eagles at Elland Road, this time 2-0 thanks to goals from Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford.
Action from Elland Road gets underway at 8pm and you can follow all the action across leedsunited.com, as well as on LUTV.
A memorable meeting:
Team News:
Ahead of the encounter, Farke admitted that all players who were available for selection last weekend are once again at his disposal this time around. Long-term absentee Daniel James is progressing well in his recovery but still faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines, whilst Sean Longstaff and Lukas Nmecha will hopefully be available in the coming weeks.
How to follow:
Monthly audio subscribers around the world can listen to every minute of Saturday’s fixture LIVE on LUTV. Bryn Law will be joined by Tony Dorigo on commentary. Pre-match build up begins at 7:30pm with legendary goalkeeper Nigel Martyn and former Women’s Bridie Hannon in the studio! The match has also been selected for television coverage in the UK by Sky Sports.
The view from inside the camp:
Speaking exclusively to Premier League Productions before the match, goalkeeper Lucas Perri said: “Palace is a very good team, has a very good coach, good structure and they are a very, very good side.
“It is important to keep steady, to keep the focus on what we can control. We are getting points in our last few games and that is what matters in this league.
“The atmosphere is incredible at Elland Road and we need to use this atmosphere, the fans, to bring more points with us.”
A full feature-length interview with Lucas can be found in this weekend’s matchday programme!
Important supporter information:
Prior to Leeds United’s 3-3 Premier League draw with Liverpool, first-team midfielder Sean Longstaff and Managing Director Robbie Evans made donations on behalf of the club to the Leeds South and East Foodbank, which is based at Elland Road on matchdays, organised by the Leeds United Supporters' Trust.
Ahead of Saturday evening’s match, food bank collections will be outside the ground and fans, if possible, are asked to donate. More information can be found HERE.
Discriminatory language or chanting is not acceptable, and you could be breaking the law. The club condemns this behaviour and has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination abuse of all kinds.
To report an incident, text LEEDS along with any relevant information including ticket details, your name and description of an incident to 60006. You will then receive an automated response which means that your report has been logged and will then be looked into.
Tough measures and sanctions are in place across all English football leagues to tackle dangerous and illegal behaviours within football grounds, and this involves but is not limited to, discriminatory behaviour, tragedy chanting, fans entering the pitch, the use of pyros and throwing objects.
More information can be found HERE.
What has Daniel Farke said ahead of the match?
League position:
Leeds: 17th
Crystal Palace: 5th
Top scorer:
Leeds: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (5)
Crystal Palace: Jean-Philippe Mateta (7)
Officials
Referee: Thomas Bramall
Assistant referees: Nick Greenhalgh & Bhupinder Singh Gill
Fourth official: Robert Jones
Video Assistant Referee: Craig Pawson
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Nick Hopton
