Crystal Palace will be looking to make it three Premier League wins in a row when they travel to Elland Road to face Leeds United on Monday night.
The Eagles currently sit 13th in the table, having picked up 29 points from their 22 matches this season, while Leeds have also gathered 29 points but are two spots above their opponents here on goal difference.
Leeds have very much been the entertainers in the Premier League this season, scoring 36 goals in their 21 matches but also conceding 38. A record of nine victories at this stage is impressive for a newly-promoted club, but they have suffered 10 defeats, which is just one fewer than 18th-placed Fulham.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side currently sit 11th in the table, although there is a chance that they could have dropped down the table before kickoff here as there is a full Premier League schedule this weekend.
The Whites have won their last two away matches in the league against Newcastle United and Leicester City but will enter Monday’s clash off the back of a 2-1 home defeat to Everton on Wednesday night.
Leeds have actually been better on their travels this season, picking up 18 points from 11 matches, while they have only collected 11 points from 10 matches at Elland Road, which will be a concern ahead of this game.
Monday’s fixture will actually be the first Premier League match between these two teams at Elland Road since the 1997-98 season, when Palace recorded a 2-0 victory against George Graham’s side.
Palace, meanwhile, will enter Monday’s clash off the back of a 2-1 victory at Newcastle on Tuesday night, with Gary Cahill’s 25th-minute header proving to be the winner at St James’ Park.
Roy Hodgson’s side also beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 last weekend, which has helped them move into 13th position in the table, level on points with Southampton and Leeds and actually only four points behind eighth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in a congested Premier League table.
The Eagles have picked up four wins from 11 away Premier League matches this season, including a 3-1 success away to Manchester United in their first game of 2020-21.
The London club also recorded a 4-1 victory over Leeds at Selhurst Park back in November and are looking for a league double over the Whites for the first time since the 1985-86 season.
Leeds will be without the services of Robin Koch, Diego Llorente, Gaetano Berardi, Rodrigo Moreno, Adam Forshaw and Ian Poveda for Monday’s clash at Elland Road.
The Whites did not pick up any fresh issues against Everton, though, and it would not be a surprise to see the same XI sent onto the field for this match.
Raphinha scored his fourth Premier League goal of the season against the Toffees and should again operate on the left, with Patrick Bamford, who has 11 league strikes to his name this term, leading the line.
Palace, meanwhile, could be without as many as 10 first-team players for this clash, with leading scorer Wilfried Zaha a key absentee due to a hamstring problem.
Joel Ward is also battling to overcome a knock, while Wayne Hennessey, Nathan Ferguson, Mamadou Sakho, James Tomkins, James McArthur, James McCarthy, Jeffrey Schlupp and Connor Wickham are definitely out.
Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke are both in line for recalls on Monday night, but Scott Dann could retain his spot alongside Cahill at the back despite the presence of Cheikhou Kouyate.
This is a very, very difficult game to call for a number of reasons. Both sides are missing key players, while Leeds are so inconsistent that it is tough to know what to expect on a game-to-game basis. Palace’s absentees could hurt them more, though, and we just fancy Bielsa’s side to edge a tight match in Yorkshire.
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