Match Preview
Leeds United v Fulham
Premier League Match Day 02 2021 at Elland Road
Saturday 19th September 2020 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Live on BT Sport
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Premier League football returns to Elland Road for the first time in 16 years on Saturday when Leeds United host fellow newly-promoted side Fulham.
Marcelo Bielsa's men made an explosive return to the top fight in a 4-3 defeat to champions Liverpool on the opening weekend, while Fulham were comfortably beaten at home to Arsenal.
Fulham will be aware of exactly what to expect against Leeds - which perhaps Liverpool were not - having faced them twice in the Championship last season, although the most recent of those was the corresponding fixture which they lost 3-0.
That was also the scoreline in Fulham's first game back in the Premier League as they were swept aside by Arsenal in the opening match of the new campaign last weekend.
Scott Parker will be hoping for slightly easier tests coming up with Leeds and Aston Villa in their next two games, and they did at least pick up their first win of the campaign in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.
A 1-0 triumph at Ipswich Town saw them book a third-round meeting with Sheffield Wednesday next week, while perhaps just as importantly saw star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic get off the mark for the season.
The Cottagers will likely need the Serbia international to be firing again on Saturday, having only scored 24 goals in their 23 Championship away games last season - a particularly worrying record considering Leeds conceded a league-low 14 times at Elland Road in 2019-20.
There was plenty made of the champions versus champions showdown on the opening weekend, and it did not disappoint as Liverpool and Leeds played out a very early and very strong contender for the game of the season.
It spoke volumes that as much of the pre-game buzz surrounded last term's Championship winners as it did last term's Premier League winners, and the rest of the league was certainly put on alert after watching Bielsa's side stand toe to toe with Liverpool.
Of course, not every game will be such a free-flowing and fearless festival of attacking football - nor such an exhibition of how not to defend - but Leeds will have taken huge belief from how close they ran a team that blew the rest of the league away last season.
Ultimately, though, they are left with no points on the board after matchday one, and a much-changed side were also dumped out of the EFL Cup on penalties at home to Yorkshire rivals Hull City on Wednesday night.
It is two defeats from two in all competitions since their long-awaited return to the top flight, then, meaning that Saturday's match against a fellow promoted side is all the more important to get off the mark.
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The side playing at home has not lost any of the last eight league meetings between Leeds United and Fulham (W3 D5), winning the last three in a row. Indeed, in the Premier League, the home team has won each of the last four clashes between the two sides.
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After their 3-0 win over Fulham in June in the Championship, Leeds are looking to win back-to-back league meetings with the Cottagers for the first time since December 2003, during their last Premier League season.
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In the last 31 Premier League matches played between two newly promoted clubs, the away side has managed to win just twice (D9 L20), with both such wins coming at relegated Norwich City last season (Aston Villa 5-1, Sheffield United 2-1).
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After winning their first ever Premier League game in Yorkshire (1-0 v Leeds in April 2002), Fulham have lost their last seven top-flight trips to the county by an aggregate score of 3-18.
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Fulham have lost 15 of their last 19 Premier League matches, with three of their four victories in that run coming in consecutive matches in April 2019.
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They have only won their opening away match in two of their 26 top-flight seasons, against Portsmouth in 2009-10 and Sunderland in 2013-14.
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Tom Cairney has been directly involved in seven league goals against Leeds, scoring four and setting up three - more than he has against any other opponent.
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Head coach Scott Parker scored a 90th-minute winner at Elland Road in December 2002 in his only victory in six Premier League appearances as a player against Leeds, which all came for Charlton.
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This will be Leeds' first home game in the Premier League since their return to the division; they have only lost their opening home match in one of their previous 12 seasons in the competition (W8 D3), a 0-2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in August 1996.
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Leeds are looking to avoid losing both of their first two matches to a top-flight campaign for the first time since 1980-81. Indeed, their defeat against Liverpool was their first ever Premier League defeat on MD1.
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Marcelo Bielsa's side conceded only one goal in their final eight Championship home fixtures last season.
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They won 33 tackles against Liverpool last Saturday and covered a distance of 114.6km, the most of any side in the opening round of Premier League matches.