MY ACCOUNT
– Leeds are unbeaten at home to teams in the bottom half of the table this season
– Palace have lost only two of five away games to bottom nine clubs
– Recommended bet: Back the draw
Two relegation-threatened clubs looking to further ease their worries meet at 2pm on Sunday when Leeds host Crystal Palace at Elland Road.
Now separated by just one place and one point in the Premier League table, both Leeds and Palace come into this game on the back of morale-boosting 2-1 home victories.
Jean-Philippe Mateta fired home a dramatic winner for the Eagles against Leicester City last weekend to enable Roy Hodgson to make a winning start in his second stint in charge.
Javi Gracia had his wide men to thank for all three points as Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra secured a stirring first-half comeback against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.
Team news
Leeds will have the same squad on duty as they had in midweek, which means Max Wober (thigh), Stuart Dallas (thigh), Adam Forshaw (hip) and Tyler Adams (hamstring) will all miss out again.
The Whites sustained no further issues against Forest and Gracia could select an unchanged side for the first time in his Elland Road tenure.
Alternatively, he could freshen things up by recalling fit-again fan favourite Wilfried Gnonto, who made the bench last time out after shaking off an ankle injury.
His Palace namesake Zaha, however, will not be featuring as he looks set to be sidelined for between three and four weeks with the groin injury he sustained against the Foxes.
Jordan Ayew — who came off the bench to set up Palace’s winning goal last weekend — is the obvious candidate to replace the Ivorian international.
Hodgson, who is still without long-term absentees Nathan Ferguson and Chris Richards, is unlikely to make any unforced changes to his line-up, which could mean Mateta has to make do with a bench role again, despite his last-gasp heroics.
The stats
Leeds have tasted defeat only once in their last four Premier League contests under the charge of Gracia, who also remained unbeaten in all three of his previous Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace and Hodgson while at Watford (two wins and a draw).
Only Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Fulham have beaten the Whites on their own turf this term.
Since returning to the Premier League in 2020, Leeds have won both of their home matches against the Eagles without conceding a goal.
The 31 shots that Palace recorded against Leicester last weekend was the most in any of the club’s games since their 1-0 FA Cup third-round win over Grimsby in January 2019 (33) and most in the Premier League since a 0-0 draw with Cardiff in December 2019 (also 31).
Prediction
Leeds are hard to beat at home and seem in good enough form to avoid defeat against this Palace team, particularly with the dangerous Zaha sidelined on Sunday.
But they may not be quite good enough to take all three points against a club that has been revitalised by Hodgson in a short space of time.
To elicit an attacking performance like he got against Leicester from an Eagles team that had rarely bared their claws under Patrick Vieira was quite something and it produced a thoroughly deserved 2-1 win.
These two sides have both suffered 4-1 defeats at Arsenal recently and generally look very closely-matched on paper too.
Back the draw at 12/5 with LiveScore Bet.
Win big with LiveScore 6!
Fancy winning up to £100,000? Simply predict six correct scores from the weekend action for your chance to win – with consolation prizes also on offer if you go close.
Play LiveScore 6 for free this weekend – click here for details on how to get involved.
