Kick-off: 1400, 09/04/2023
Stadium: Elland Road
TV: Sky Sports
Leeds and Crystal Palace head into Sunday’s first live television game on a high after winning last time out.
Victory over Nottingham Forest propelled Leeds out of the bottom three and as far up as 13th, just one place behind Palace who beat Leicester on Roy Hodgson’s return to Premier League management.
The Eagles edged the reverse fixture at Selhurst Park back in October and a home win looks good again at 11/10 as our first Leeds vs Crystal Palace prediction.
Tight in the relegation fight
From Palace down to Southampton, seven points separate nine teams and although Leeds have only just popped their head back up above the trapdoor, they have reasons to be positive.
Manager Javi Gracia, who replaced Jesse Marsch in February, has taken 10 points from his six games, beating Southampton and Wolves before Palace, drawing with Brighton and losing to Chelsea and Arsenal.
He said after their latest victory: “I try to do my job. I try to help the players understand every single game how to manage the game and have more options to get a good result. That’s my job. But the protagonists are the players.”
Three of Leeds’ next five matches are against teams in that congested bottom half and they can get off to a good start on Sunday, with a 1-0 win at 6/1 a good option in the Leeds vs Crystal Palace odds.
Last Leeds line-up: Meslier, Ayling, Firpo, Koch, Struijk, Aaronson, Roca, Harrison, Sinisterra, McKennie, Bamford
Palace know their problem
Patrick Vieira was sacked as Eagles boss last month having failed to win a match since December 31. That was a 2-0 victory at Bournemouth and the last time Palace scored more than one goal in a game before last weekend.
So Hodgson knows what he is dealing with in his second spell at the club, having been in charge immediately before Vieira.
The 75-year-old former England boss is targeting three wins from the final nine games to give them “half a chance” of staying in the top flight.
Seven of the nine are against teams currently in that bottleneck looking down towards the Championship, so although Hodgson appears to have set a more-than-achievable target, he will probably have to wait to get the first win of the three on the board.
While Palace have not been banging them in, in their last eight games a 4-1 loss to Arsenal was the only time they have conceded more than once.
A tight, nervy affair (expect a few of them between now and May) is on the cards and a half-time draw with the home side taking all three points at 4/1 is our final Leeds vs Crystal Palace prediction.
Last Crystal Palace line-up: Guaita, Ward, Mitchell, Guehi, Andersen, Eze, Schlupp, Doucoure, Olise, Zaha, Edouard
Additional stats
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