Leeds’ winless streak in the top flight was stretched to three matches following Saturday’s goalless draw with Brighton, where most of the headlines were made following the home crowd’s jeers towards Graham Potter and his subsequent reaction.
Bielsa’s men were arguably fortunate to take a point from their clash at the Amex as their dismal fortunes in the 2021-22 Premier League season continued, with that point doing very little to help pull them away from the relegation scrap.
Leeds will enter the midweek round of fixtures down in 17th place – three points clear of the dotted line following the postponement of Burnley’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur – and Bielsa’s men would certainly do well to take advantage of that lifeline.
Now only able to boast one win from their last six Premier League games, the Whites sure are a far cry from their 2020-21 selves, but they have held Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers to draws on home soil recently and welcome visitors who are not exactly brimming with confidence.
Two oaf the finest midfield maestros the Premier League has seen prepared to lock horns in the dugout at the weekend, as Patrick Vieira’s Palace sought to sour the mood around Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa, but their efforts proved futile.
Matt Targett took all of 15 minutes to propel Villa into the ascendancy with a left-footed strike before John McGinn wrapped up the three points from outside the area, and Marc Guehi’s consolation came too little too late for Palace to salvage anything.
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Vieira’s side would have felt aggrieved to see a red card for Douglas Luiz downgraded to a yellow following a VAR review, and as a result they sit 11th in the table but only four points behind sixth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers in the tightly-congested top flight.
Defeat to Gerrard’s men ended a seven-game unbeaten Premier League run for Crystal Palace – with five of those ties ending in draws – but they have scored at least two goals in four of their last five away games in the top flight – no mean feat with Arsenal, West Ham United and Manchester City in that streak.
Palace went down 2-0 to Leeds at Elland Road in the 2020-21 season after easing to a 4-1 victory at Selhurst Park, but the Whites may not be harbouring hopes of another home success in this fixture given their woeful fortunes so far this term
