Leeds vs Crystal Palace: eleven conceded, and no Disasi
Leeds United vs Crystal Palace at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon matches the Premier League’s third-placed side against the team that has conceded more league goals than anyone. Leeds are unbeaten in the league on eight points, having beaten Newcastle 4-1 on Monday night. Palace are sixteenth on three points, have conceded eleven league goals in four matches, and will be without Axel Disasi, who was sent off against Ipswich Town and is serving a domestic suspension. Palace also play Lech Poznań in the Europa League on Thursday 17 September, three days before kick-off.
Leeds, knocked out of the Carabao Cup at Chelsea, have no midweek match and will have had six days to prepare after Monday’s win.
Leeds: unbeaten, and scoring again
Leeds opened with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest, Anton Stach scoring on eighty-eight minutes, then drew 1-1 at home to Brentford and 1-1 at Brighton. Monday’s 4-1 against Newcastle was their first multi-goal league performance: a Lewis Miley own goal, a Jayden Bogle header and a Dominic Calvert-Lewin finish before half-time, and Noah Okafor’s goal on fifty-nine minutes.
Leeds have conceded three league goals, the joint fourth-best record in the division, and they are unbeaten at home in the league. Bogle and Calvert-Lewin have two league goals each. Their only defeat in any competition this season came in the Carabao Cup third round, 6-3 at Chelsea on 9 September.
Calvert-Lewin has now scored in two of Leeds’ four league matches, the equaliser against Brentford and the third goal against Newcastle, and he also set up Bogle’s header on Monday. Bogle, who scored the opener at Brighton on 5 September, has scored in consecutive league matches.
Crystal Palace: goals against, and a suspension
Palace lost 2-0 at Everton on the opening weekend and 4-1 at home to Manchester City, won 3-2 at Fulham after trailing twice, and lost 3-2 at home to Ipswich last Saturday. That defeat came after Disasi was shown a straight red card on thirty-four minutes; Palace fought back from 2-1 down with ten men to draw level, and Zian Flemming won it for Ipswich in the ninetieth minute.
The defensive record is the problem. Palace have conceded eleven league goals, and opponents have taken seventy-one shots and put twenty-six on target against them, both among the highest totals in the league. Disasi’s dismissal for serious foul play carries a three-match domestic ban, which rules him out at Elland Road. Tyrick Mitchell has two league goals for Palace, and Daichi Kamada provided both assists against Ipswich.
Palace’s away league record is the 2-0 defeat at Everton and the 3-2 win at Fulham, where Tyrick Mitchell scored twice and Ben Chilwell hit the winner on seventy-seven minutes. That win at Craven Cottage remains their only league victory of the season.
- Leeds United: third, 8 points, 7 scored and 3 conceded; unbeaten in the league
- Crystal Palace: sixteenth, 3 points, 6 scored and 11 conceded, the most in the league
- Leeds beat Newcastle 4-1 on Monday night
- Axel Disasi (Crystal Palace) is suspended after his red card against Ipswich Town
- Palace host Lech Poznań in the Europa League on Thursday 17 September
What the match turns on
Leeds have the rest, the form and the home ground. They have had less than half of the ball in three of their four league matches and have still conceded only three goals.
Palace’s route is through their attack, which has scored six goals in four league matches, including five in their last two. They came back twice at Fulham and again with ten men against Ipswich. But with Disasi out and a European match on Thursday, the defence that has leaked eleven league goals will be under particular strain.
Palace have also fallen behind in every one of their four league matches. Against a Leeds side that has scored first in three of its four, the opening goal could shape the afternoon.
The halves tell a similar story. Leeds have conceded only one first-half league goal all season, Kevin Schade’s for Brentford on 30 August, while Palace have conceded six league goals before half-time.
Kick-off is at 14:00 on Sunday.
Simulate the match before kick-off
The third-placed side at home to the league’s leakiest defence, with a suspension and a European match in between, is a match worth modelling. Run Leeds United vs Crystal Palace through the AI simulator on this site and see how the numbers play out.
- Run this fixture through the AI match simulator, in tactical view or in the physics arena
- Play the remaining 34 rounds from the real table and the real fixture list
- Open the line-up builder for both clubs before you kick off a simulation
- Turn an arena simulation into a vertical video ready to share
"Leeds have conceded three league goals all season. Palace conceded three last Saturday alone."