Match Preview
Leeds United v Fulham
Premier League Match Day 12 22-23 at Elland Road
Sunday 23rd October 2022 KO: 14:00
Referee:
Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
|
Matt Law
Fulham face Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon
Fulham have made an impressive start to the season, winning four, drawing three and losing four of their 11 Premier League games to collect 15 points, which has left them in ninth spot in the table.
Marco Silva's side are only one point behind seventh-placed Liverpool, while they are six points ahead of the relegation zone, with the club certainly looking capable of consolidating at this level of football.
Fulham lost back-to-back league fixtures to Newcastle United and West Ham United at the start of October before picking up a point in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth last weekend.
The Cottagers will enter this match off the back of a victory, though, having beaten Villa by three clear goals on Thursday, which saw Steven Gerrard lose his job as head coach.
Fulham, like Leeds, have some difficult games before the winter break, facing Manchester City and Manchester United at the start of November, but the capital outfit will be full of confidence following a positive start, as they bid to make it back-to-back seasons at this level of football for the first time since 2014.
Leeds United's search for their first Premier League win since August 21 continues.
Leeds are 16th in the table and enter this match off the back of a 2-0 defeat at Leicester City on Thursday, while ninth-placed Fulham recorded a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on the same night.
Leeds allegedly have no plans to sack Jesse Marsch as head coach despite the team's struggles, which has seen them pick up just two points from their last seven Premier League matches.
Indeed, since the 3-0 victory over Chelsea on August 21, the Whites have lost to Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Leicester City, in addition to drawing with Everton and Aston Villa.
Thursday's 2-0 defeat at Leicester saw them drop into 16th position in the table, boasting just nine points from their opening 10 matches, which is the same amount as 18th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Marsch's side still have to travel to Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur before the season breaks for the World Cup, which makes this weekend's clash with Fulham even more important, while they also have a huge home fixture against Bournemouth to come at the start of November.
Leeds have actually been victorious in each of their last four games against Fulham, including both Premier League fixtures during the 2020-21 campaign, running out 4-3 winners at Elland Road.
-
Fulham have won only two of their past 11 league games against Leeds, but both of those came at Craven Cottage.
-
Leeds did the double over Fulham in the 2020-21 season, when the Cottagers were relegated.
-
Fulham have won four Premier League games this season, only one fewer than they managed across 38 matches when relegated two seasons ago.
-
Fulham have lost eight of their last nine Premier League games in Yorkshire and have conceded 23 goals in the process.
-
Aleksandar Mitrovic has four goals and two assists in his last six league games against Leeds, including scoring two goals last time out.
-
Leeds have lost three league games in a row and are winless in seven (D2, L5).
-
Leeds have lost on the last two Sundays - against Crystal Palace and Arsenal. If they lose to Fulham, that would be three successive Sunday defeats for the first time in 20 years, all of them coming against London teams.
-
The Whites have won nine of their last 10 games against promoted teams, drawing the other against Brentford.
`
`