Preview: Leeds United vs Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Premier League title hopefuls Manchester City will be seeking to shrink the gap at the summit when they travel to Elland Road to face Leeds United on Saturday evening.

The two teams reconvene three months on from an entertaining five-goal contest at the Etihad Stadium where the Whites were undone by Phil Foden’s stoppage-time strike despite their second-half fightback.

Match preview

Since suffering a heavy 4-0 home defeat to Arsenal at the end of January, Leeds have enjoyed an unbeaten February, picking up five points across three Premier League games (W1 D2) as well as progressing from the FA Cup fourth round.

In the top-flight, an important 3-1 home win over relegation-threatened rivals Nottingham Forest has been followed by back-to-back away draws with Chelsea (2-2) and Aston Villa (1-1), with Anton Stach’s stunning 35-yard free kick against the latter cancelled out by an 88th-minute equaliser last weekend.

Only Man City and Man United (one each) have lost fewer Premier League games than Leeds (two) since December, though Daniel Farke’s men have drawn the most matches in this period (eight), with the Whites leading 1-0 in three of the last four draws that have ended 1-1.

Indeed, letting leads slip is a habit Leeds will be keen to shake off; they have kept just seven clean sheets in 43 top-flight games when scoring first since the start of the 2021-22 campaign. When going 1-0 up in the first half, the Whites have conceded in each of their last 21 games, a run stretching back to a 3-0 win over Chelsea in August 2022.

Sitting 15th in the Premier League table and six points above the drop zone, Leeds will hope to collect enough points in the coming weeks to ease their relegation concerns. However, success on Saturday could prove challenging, as they have lost their last five PL meetings with Man City, having been beaten just four times in their previous 16 against them in the division (W7 D5).

Just a few weeks ago, Man City were nine points behind leaders Arsenal with around 15 minutes to play at Anfield before completing a memorable comeback to beat Liverpool. Home wins over Fulham and Newcastle have since followed, thrusting the Citizens back into the Premier League title race.

Academy starlet Nico O'Reilly scored twice to inspire Pep Guardiola’s men to a 2-1 victory over Newcastle last weekend. Arsenal’s North London derby triumph over Spurs restored their five-point advantage at the summit, but City crucially have a game in hand and can cut the gap at the top to just two points with a win over Leeds.

With 11 league games to play, questions remain over whether Guardiola’s new-look Man City squad - featuring several players yet to win a title in England - can mount one of their trademark winning runs to overtake Arsenal. However, recent form suggests that the Citizens are carrying a winning momentum that is ominous to an Arsenal side showing early signs of nerves.

Interestingly, City have only lost one of their last 14 Premier League games when playing the day before Arsenal (W10 D3), who face Chelsea on Sunday. City also head into Saturday’s clash with Leeds having won 24 of their last 27 top-flight battles with newly-promoted clubs (D2 L1). However, that solitary defeat came against Leeds at the Etihad in April 2021 (2-1).

In addition, the Citizens have conceded 2+ goals in just three of their 52 top-flight matches against newly-promoted sides – two were against Leeds (including their 3-2 home win in November 2025) and the other was against Farke’s Norwich City in September 2019 (losing 3-2).

Leeds United Premier League form:

Leeds United form (all competitions):

Manchester City Premier League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

Team News

Leeds’ only injury concern is with Noah Okafor, who is set to miss between two and four weeks with a hamstring problem, while Gabriel Gudmundsson, who was taken off at half time in the draw at Aston Villa through illness, is available for selection.

Farke is expected to stick with a five-at-the-back system, with James Justin, Joe Rodon and Patrick Struijk retaining their spots at centre-back as Gudmundsson - if fit - and Jayden Bogle providing the width as wing-backs.

Only Ian Harte in 2000-01 (four) has scored more free kicks in a PL season for Leeds than Stach, who is set to play in an advanced central role alongside Brenden Aaronson. Meanwhile, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored one of his 10 PL goals in the aforementioned 3-2 defeat at Man City earlier this season, is expected to start up front.

As for Man City, Croatian pair Josko Gvardiol (tibial fracture) and Mateo Kovacic (ankle/heel) both remain out with injuries, while a late call will be made on the fitness of Jeremy Doku (calf), who has returned to training this week. Max Alleyne (knock) has been pictured in training.

In-form O’Reilly, who has scored three goals in his last two Premier League matches, is likely to continue in midfield alongside Rodri and captain Bernardo Silva, while Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki are contenders to replace either Omar Marmoush or Antoine Semenyo - more likely the former - in attack.

Leeds-born striker Erling Haaland netted twice on his last Premier League visit to the Whites in December 2022 (3-1 win for City) and he is now looking to become the first player for an away team to score more than two goals in consecutive top-flight visits to Elland Road.

Leeds United possible starting lineup:

Darlow; Justin, Rodon, Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu, Gruev, Gudmundsson; Stach, Aaronson; Calvert-Lewin

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, O'Reilly; Bernardo, Foden; Semenyo, Haaland

We say: Leeds United 2-2 Manchester City

Man City, who have won their last two away league meetings with Leeds, travel to South Yorkshire as favourites and their recent form should give them confidence of securing another vital result as they bid to increase the pressure on title rivals Arsenal.

However, we feel that this fixture could be a potential banana skin for the Citizens, as Leeds have shown how much of a handful they can be against the top teams in the division, especially when the crowd is rocking at Elland Road. Goals are to be expected, but City may not prevail on this occasion.

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