Preview: Leeds United vs Crystal Palace - prediction, team news, lineups

Seeking to preserve their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season, in-form Leeds United welcome Crystal Palace to Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.

The Whites won 4-1 in this home fixture last season, but the spoils were shared in a goalless stalemate in their most recent battle at Selhurst Park in March.

Match preview

At the time of writing, only champions Arsenal and Manchester City (12 each) have accumulated more Premier League points than Leeds (eight) after four games this season, with Daniel Farke’s side making a positive, unbeaten start in the top tier.

The Whites quickly bounded back from their chaotic 6-3 defeat at Chelsea in the EFL Cup and produced a superb performance in a comprehensive 4-1 league victory at home to Newcastle on Monday, helping them climb up to third in the table.

No English player has scored more Premier League goals in 2026 than Dominic Calvert-Lewin (17), who netted his third of the campaign against Newcastle but had another taken away from him by Jayden Bogle. The striker has since been rewarded with a return to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad ahead of the two-week international break.

Leeds have only been beaten once across their last 13 league matches (W6 D6), but Farke has encouraged his players to perform ‘at the top of their game’ if they wish to pick up maximum points in a “very difficult game” against Crystal Palace.

The Whites have only won only of their last five encounters against Crystal Palace (D2 L2), but they have prevailed in seven of their last eight home league meetings with the Eagles, scoring 16 goals in the process.

Crystal Palace have picked up just three Premier League points from a possible 12 available so far this season, with their solitary win over Fulham taking place between defeats to Everton, Manchester City and Ipswich Town.

The Eagles suffered a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss to Ipswich at Selhurst Park last weekend, initially fighting back with 10 men to restore parity, only for Zian Flemming to score a 90th-minute winner for the visitors.

However, Pierre Sage’s side responded with a comfortable 4-0 home victory against Lech Poznan in their opening Europa League fixture, and the Frenchman has now called for consistency from his side going forward after producing a much-improved display with a clean sheet.

Defensive frailties in the Premier League have proved costly at this early stage for Palace, who have conceded the most goals (11), faced the joint-most shots on target (26) and have allowed their opponents the most touches in their own penalty area (164) in the division.

The Eagles have also conceded at least two goals in each of their last 10 top-flight matches and will endeavour to claim their first clean sheet in the league since April 20 when they face Leeds, who have found the net in all of their last five matches at Elland Road (12 goals in total).

Leeds United Premier League form:

Leeds United form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Team News

Leeds boss Farke has confirmed that Harry Wilson is sidelined with a quad injury, while both Joe Rodon (hamstring) and Mateo Joseph (knee) remain in the treatment room.

An unchanged starting lineup could be selected by Farke, with James Justin, Nico Elvedi and Tarik Muharemovic, set to continue at centre-back as in-form Bogle and Gabriel Gudmundsson operate as wing-backs.

Calvert-Lewin has scored in each of his last five Premier League home games and he is set to be joined in attack by Noah Okafor, while captain Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach and Ao Tanaka could all start in midfield.

As for Crystal Palace, Axel Disasi will begin serving a three-match suspended following his red card against Ipswich, while Dean Henderson (ankle), Jean-Philippe Mateta (hamstring) and Chadi Riad (knee) all remain out injured.

In Disasi’s absence, Sage will weigh up whether to hand Takehiro Tomiyasu or Jaydee Canvot a start in the back three alongside Chris Richards and Honest Ahanor, while the likes of Eddie Nketiah, Dwight McNeil and Oscar Mingueza will all be pushing to return to the first XI.

Ismaila Sarr made his first appearance of the season as a substitute in midweek and Sage has said that the Liverpool-linked forward is “maybe” ready to start, but not fit enough to last 90 minutes.

Jorgen Strand Larsen, who has scored four goals in his last three appearances, is expected to lead the line and could be joined in attack by Yeremy Pino and either Nketiah or Daichi Kamada, if Sarr is not selected to start.

Leeds United possible starting lineup:

Trafford; Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic; Bogle, Stach, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson; Calvert-Lewin, Okafor

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Tomiyasu, Richards, Ahanor; Khalaili, Timber, Wharton, Mitchell; Sarr, Pino; Strand Larsen

We say: Leeds United 3-1 Crystal Palace

Although Crystal Palace picked up a morale-boosting European win in midweek, their defensive vulnerability in the Premier League remains a concern, and they can ill-afford to make costly errors against a red-hot Leeds outfit.

The Whites have looked exceptionally strong and powerful at the early stage of this season, and in front of a pumped-up Elland Road crowd, they should possess more than enough quality to outscore the Eagles en route to another resounding victory.

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