Leeds vs Crystal Palace Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Leeds United have shown signs of being able to ease away from the danger zone in the Premier League as they welcome a very busy Crystal Palace side to Elland Road.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports / USA – USA Network
How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / USA – Cannot be streamed
Leeds preview: Competitive Leeds
Leeds United, following promotion to the top-flight last season, have managed to put some impressive and improved performances together of late, with a three-match unbeaten run of form meaning they are three points clear of the danger zone.
The Whites went away to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium last weekend. Jordan Henderson gave the Bees a late-ish lead before Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his fifth goal of the campaign to rescue a point for the Yorkshire giants.
Crystal Palace preview: Fatigued Palace
Crystal Palace come into this one on the back of a heavily rotated Eagles side sharing a disappointing 2-2 draw with 2024 Finnish champions Kuopion Palloseura, leaving them having to go into the knockout playoffs of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Extra games is not what Palace require at the moment with the south Londoners already enduring a fixture pileup with that game taking place on Thursday, this game on Saturday night before an EFL Cup quarter-final against Arsenal on Tuesday night.
Leeds team news: Nothing new
In his pre-match press conference, Daniel Farke has confirmed that he expects to have 'the same group of players' available from their 1-1 draw against Brentford last weekend.
That means summer signing Sean Longstaff remains an injury absentee for the hosts, alongside fellow summer addition Lukas Nmecha and Wales international attacker Daniel James.
Predicted XI (3-5-2): Perri; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Bogle, Stach, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson; Okafor, Calvert-Lewin
Unavailable: Longstaff (Injured), Nmecha (Injured), James (Injured)
Questionable:
Crystal Palace team news: Glasner named XI after KuPS draw
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Clyne, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Nketiah, Pino; Mateta
Unavailable: Kporha (Injured), Riad (Injured), Cardines (Injured), Munoz (Injured), Doucoure (Injured), Kamada (Injured), Sarr (International duty)
Questionable:
Leeds vs Crystal Palace prediction
Oliver Glasner clearly took the decision that Palace could only take two of these three pre-Christmas games seriously, with the Croydon-based outfit in a genuine push for the top four and UEFA Champions League qualification with their extremely small squad. Leeds welcome Palace knowing that they can exploit any fatigue or distraction with a hostile home crowd under the lights and a bit of confidence taken from recent performances. Both teams scoring may well be a good shout, as Palace will certainly believe they can punish what remains a limited Leeds side that have opened themselves up of late.
Leeds vs Crystal Palace tip: Both teams to score
