Analysis: Eagles unlucky to not gain winpublished at 16:32 BST
16:32 BST
Michael Emons BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
This was a good test for boss Pierre Sage, with the Eagles playing on Thursday in the Europa League and having three days less preparation time than Leeds.
But he would have been pleased with the energy his side showed throughout, despite nine of the players that started on Thursday featuring again from the beginning.
Crystal Palace created the first chance of the match, only for Quinten Timber to fire over from 25 yards, before Adam Wharton and Tyrick Mitchell had their only other chances of note in the first half, with both strikes deflected and easily dealt with.
But Palace's best spell came just after the break, although a failure to convert their chances saw them unable to make the breakthrough.
Palace had conceded a late goal to lose 3-2 to Ipswich Town last weekend and it would have been harsh on them if something similar had happened here. Leeds, whose main threat came from the impressive long throws of Ethan Ampadu, won a deep free-kick in injury time, but Palace dealt with the threat by heading clear to gain a deserved point.
Sage's side are 15th in the table with four points from five games, but this performance will give him great belief that the Eagles can quickly progress up the table after the international break.
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Sutton's predictions: Leeds United v Crystal Palacepublished at 10:59 BST
10:59 BST
I think I am in love with Leeds boss Daniel Farke. What a guy.
We were talking about him on the Monday Night Club before Leeds walloped Newcastle and only idiots question whether he is the right man to move the club forward now.
To see them beat Newcastle, and how emphatically they did it, was massive and more proof of their progress.
In contrast, Crystal Palace are almost on the precipice after their shaky start under new manager Pierre Sage, and I just don't see the Eagles getting anything here.
Leeds are so well organised at the back with new goalkeeper James Trafford, who is an upgrade on last season, and and a new centre-half I like too in Tarik Muharemovic.
Apart from me, no-one else could say Muharemovic's name on the Monday Night Club, not even the posh Rory Smith, which I quite enjoyed.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is flying up front as well. He is fit, motivated and a real handful, which is another reason I can't see past a Leeds victory.
Leeds United v Crystal Palace: Key stats and talking pointspublished at 13:37 BST 19 September
13:37 BST 19 September
Paul Birch BBC Sport journalist
In-form Leeds United test their unbeaten record against a Crystal Palace side who have problems in defence. BBC Sport takes a look at the key themes going into Sunday's game at Elland Road.
Up to third in the league and boasting a record of just one defeat in 13 league matches – and just five in their past 29 - these are great times for Leeds fans.
Having already amassed eight points from four matches, a win over Palace would mean Daniel Farke's side equalling their best start to a Premier League season after five games - set under David O'Leary in 2001-02.
Central to the rip-roaring 4-1 victory over Newcastle - and their resurgence as a whole - has been in-form striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who notched two goals and an assist on Monday to continue his red-hot streak in home games.
It made him only the second player after Mark Viduka to score in five successive Premier League fixtures at Elland Road and he now has the chance to become the first Leeds player to score in six consecutive top-flight appearances at home since Arthur Hydes did so in 1932-33.
Since joining the Whites at the start of last season, only Manchester City's Erling Haaland (16) and Brentford's Igor Thiago (13) have scored more Premier League home goals than the 10 by the recalled England's striker.
He has been a key cog in Leeds turning Elland Road into a real fortress, with their last defeat in front of their own fans coming on 3 March.
Going into the weekend, only Arsenal (52), Manchester City (50), Manchester United (45) and Bournemouth (37) had claimed more top-flight points in 2026 than the 35 Farke's side have mustered.
The German boss has been helped by consistent team selections - naming an unchanged starting XI for 10 Premier League games since the start of 2025-26, the most by any side.
Eagles shipping goals
Crystal Palace's rocky start to life under new boss Pierre Sage continued last Saturday with a demoralising late defeat by Ipswich to make it three defeats from four league games.
Once again their suspect defence was exposed. Axel Disasi's 34th minute red card certainly didn't help matters, but shipping multiple goals merely continued an unwanted trend that begun under Oliver Glasner.
The Eagles have now conceded two or more times in 10 consecutive top-flight matches – second only to Fulham's Premier League record of 13 straight games set in January to April 2019.
Defensively they have been all over the place and have shipped the most goals (11), faced the most xG (8.15) and joint most shots on target (26) and allowed their opponents the most touches in their own box (164).
Losing three totems of their defence across the January and summer transfer windows in Marc Guehi, Maxence Lacroix and Daniel Munoz is being keenly felt, while injuries have also not helped, with goalkeeper and skipper Dean Henderson again absent for this game.
Highly rated defender Jaydee Canvot was left out of the squad to face Ipswich with Sage saying: "I need more from him."
Last season's Conference League champions did at least enjoy a successful step up to the Europa League on Thursday with their debut in the competition ending in a morale boosting 4-0 win over Lech Poznan.
Sage on injuries, improving confidence and Sarr's receptionpublished at 15:12 BST 18 September
15:12 BST 18 September
Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Leeds United at Elland Road (kick-off 14:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Sage provided an update on the fitness of Dean Henderson and Jean-Philippe Mateta, confirming they will not return until after the international break: "Henderson's situation is more certain than Mateta's situation. We will have to wait on both of them. I'll be able to give a better answer in two weeks. I also want a quick answer but I cannot give anything as yet."
He gave clarification on why Cheick Doucoure was absent from the matchday squad for Thursday's Europa League opener against Lech Poznan: "He just isn't in the European squad list. We have a little problem with that because we don't have too many players in his position currently in training, with four players out injured off our list. It wasn't easy to make the choices, but I had to and we can maybe change the list in January if we qualify for the knockouts. He can play in the Premier League."
On the win over Poznan: "I feel a lot of satisfaction because we scored four goals in four different ways through four different players. We also got a clean sheet, which is very important for us as we worked a lot on that after our last game."
Asked if the confidence within the squad is improving, Sage said: "It is better because the players are aware of the win last time out, of how to score and how to defend, of lots of players coming back into the fold. Maybe the confidence is sometimes in the diversity of options, especially as it gave us other ways to win."
On Ismaila Sarr's return to action after injury on Thursday and the boos he received from some fans in Selhurst Park: "I know the fans love him and I think he deserves to be loved the way he is. It is always difficult to come back after a long injury, but the most important thing for us was putting him on the pitch and giving him his first minutes. He will get better and better with more time out there. He can maybe start, but I don't think he can play the full match"
More on the boos: "It is normal because everybody thought he would leave. Now he has made his comeback, I would like to think everybody is happy to see him on the pitch. We should all enjoy his goals and our wins with him."
On Jaydee Canvot returning to the matchday squad after being left out for last weekend's game against Ipswich: "He gave a good impression in preparation for this game. He understood why I left him out and what I expect from him. He is a really good player. I've managed some young talents in my career and I know sometimes they need this kind of encouragement. They have to realise it isn't sufficient to just be good, you have to be very good."
GP: Solid performance, just need to take this to Elland Road on Sunday. Yeremy Pino was so much better inside instead of wide, he caused real problems for the Poznan defence all game. Great support from their fans!
Steve: It was an encouraging performance going forward, but defensively a better team would have punished us. This is still the biggest area of concern and sadly I think Chris Richards is the biggest problem.
Kevin: That was a polished performance. It's coming together slowly and this win may kick-start our season.
H: Very good. Love how we're positive and scoring so well. Reassuring to have a clean sheet!
Malcolm: Adam Wharton - speed of thought, he sees the play unfold and he is ready to capitalize. More goals from you to be compared with Emyln Hughes.
Al: Phew, at last the team started to show their true abilities. An unchanged XI was a confidence booster. Wharton looks natural as captain. Defenders, midfielders and forwards all scoring is encouraging. A great lift for Leeds away. Great to see Eddie Nketiah, Jaydee Canvot, Ismaila Sarr and Dwight McNeill all contributing too. Squad has a depth this season.
Crystal Palace 4-0 Lech Poznan: What Wharton and Larsen saidpublished at 22:36 BST 17 September
22:36 BST 17 September
Crystal Palace captain Adam Wharton, speaking to TNT Sports: "There's still a lot to work on, still early days, lots of new signings. We are trying to gel as fast as we can. It has been a slow start but tonight was a great step forward.
"There were still some moments we could be tighter at the back but definitely a step in the right direction.
"The manager is very attack minded, he wants us to get high up. In training we are working on those patterns and I think there were a few good moments where we played one-touch play and it is good to see that starting to gel.
"When you are on the front you get the crowd behind you as well and on nights like these getting the crowd behind you helps. It pushed us on.
"Last year was completely new for a lot of the players. It is a different game to the Premier League, a different intensity. In this it is sometimes a bit more tactical. Coming into this season with the experience from last season is only going to help us."
On England potential call up: "It would be great to see my name there but I am not focusing on that. It hasn't really been on my mind with us having games every three days now. It would obviously be great for me to be in the squad. At the same time there are more camps throughout the year and we have lots of games coming up."
Crystal Palace striker Jorgen Strand Larsen told TNT Sports: "When you miss two [penalties] in a row you have to smack it in. It was a risky one, it was going a bit higher than I expected. I enjoyed it.
"Yeremy is my brother, maybe he deserved to take it but I needed one after missing two. We all just want to show ourselves to the fans.
"When it works it works really well. We could have won this game by more. We had Sunday's game in the back of our minds."
Did you know?
Crystal Palace have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five home games in major European competition, going unbeaten in each of their last seven European games at Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace have been three goals ahead at half time of a home game for just the third time over the last 10 years (also v Norwich City in December 2021 and v West Ham United in April 2024 – both in the Premier League).
Crystal Palace have converted each of their last eight penalties across all competitions (ex. shootouts) since Jean-Philippe Mateta failed to score from the spot against AZ in the UEFA Conference League in November 2025.
Analysis: Palace make light work of step uppublished at 22:06 BST 17 September
22:06 BST 17 September
Gary Rose BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
It has been a memorable couple of years for Palace fans with their stunning FA Cup win two seasons ago followed by European glory in the Conference League.
The Europa League, however, marks a step up in quality and supporters will have been cautiously optimistic about how their team would handle it.
On this showing they will have every reason to believe their side can at least reach the knockout stage, though they were helped out by a Lech Poznan side that did themselves no favours.
Terry Yegbe's throw for Palace's opener was a dreadful error of judgement as he simply gifted the ball to Pino, who gratefully waltzed into the area to score.
They never really recovered from that and only the offside flag spared further blushes when Yegbe launched a bizarre attempted clearance into his own net from about 35 yards.
To their credit, the visiting supporters never gave up chanting throughout the second half, even if they had no goal to celebrate, as instead Palace added a late fourth to round off a win that will give them much-needed confidence after a difficult start to the Premier League season, losing three out of four games.
There was one other significant moment for Palace in the second half as Ismaila Sarr came on for his first appearance of the season.
A proposed move to Liverpool collapsed late in the transfer window, and while his return to action was generally well received, there were some boos among the cheers.
'We need the fans more than ever' - Henderson's pleapublished at 14:23 BST 17 September
14:23 BST 17 September
Image source, Getty Images
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson says Crystal Palace fans deserve the current period of success "more than anyone", but believes there is a need to "park the negativity".
Henderson has also lifted the FA Cup and worn the captain's armband in the Conference League during his time at Selhurst Park.
"When we talk about that day out at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup, obviously the lads were outstanding to a man but the supporters were incredible as well," he told club media, external.
"I don't think you will ever hear Wembley Stadium that loud again. They were right in our corner every step of the way, kicking every ball when the lads were tired.
"They deserve this period of success more than anyone.
"Selhurst Park is a big thing for us. It needs to become a fortress going forward.
"We need the fans more than ever in this transition period. Obviously, it has been a little bit of a difficult period with the lads getting back late and new ideas coming in.
"I'm so certain that we are going to have a really good season, so we need to park the negativity and all be as one. Together, we will be stronger."
Henderson 'gets the best out of us' - Whartonpublished at 09:11 BST 17 September
09:11 BST 17 September
Image source, Getty Images
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton has said goalkeeper Dean Henderson signing a new deal is "great news for the club".
Henderson, 29, has made 119 appearances since arriving at Selhurst Park from Manchester United in August 2023 and signed a new deal with the club until 2030 on Wednesday.
Wharton has won the FA Cup, Conference League and Community Shield alongside his fellow England international since his own arrival in the winter of 2024, and has praised the Palace captain's presence in the dressing room.
"It's great news for the club," he told a news conference before Thursday's Europa League opener against Lech Poznan.
"He's been here quite a few years now and especially since I've joined he's just seemed to get better and better.
"Especially the last couple of seasons, he's played at a really high level, helping us out when we've needed it in games and tight moments. A long-term contract is good for him, good for the club and good for us his team-mates.
"As a guy in the dressing room he's lively, he's good with all the lads, always speaking to everyone, making sure everyone is feeling good within themselves.
Sage on Sarr's return, Henderson's new deal and Canvot's squad exclusionpublished at 16:36 BST 16 September
16:36 BST 16 September
Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Europa League opener against Polish side Lech Poznan at Selhurst Park (20:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Pierre Sage confirmed both Ismaila Sarr and Eddie Nketiah have trained with the team this week, are "in shape" and "could be in the team" tomorrow night. Sarr - who was linked with a move away over the summer - is yet to feature under Sage after struggling with a groin problem, while Nketiah has missed the Eagles' past two games through injury.
On Jean-Philippe Mateta and Dean Henderson, who have both been absent recently with respective injuries: "I hope it will be after the international break. With long injuries, there's more or less days. That's why we hope and we will see."
More on last season's top scorer Sarr and his return to fitness: "I think the situation is behind him now. He looks normal and we will see on the pitch during the competitive games. I think his idea is to make a big season for us."
Sage was asked about defender Jaydee Canvot's reaction to being left out of the squad for last weekend's defeat by Ipswich: "During this week it was really clear that the message is clear."
On reports the board were unhappy with the decision to leave Canvot out for tactical reasons and the way Sage dealt with the situation: "It's a story, it's non official. If you want to have the right word about that ask Steve Parish. I spoke with him a few days ago about that and there is no problem. I have always a position to explain my decisions, positive and negative. Sometimes they react but they are in line with this position."
Although goalkeeper Henderson will remain sidelined for Thursday's game, he signed a new Palace deal until 2030 on Wednesday, with Sage saying on the news: "We are really happy for us, we are really happy for him – it's a long-term contract for our captain. For the moment he is injured, but he showed us during his first games that he's really important for the team and we hope he'll come back quickly, because he's really important in the dressing room too. That's why it's good news."
More on his captain's importance to the squad: "As a player, he's a really good goalkeeper, and as a man he has good leadership, he's positive, and he's always with his teammates. That's why it's really important to have him. But we have to consider him with the other goalkeepers, because they do a good job altogether. If his level is high, it's because his teammates' is too."
On Thursday's opponents: "We watched seven of Lech's matches this season. We know they started quite early and had to pick themselves up after the defeat in the Champions League qualifiers. It's never easy. I see a team that's developing from match to match. We need to stay very focused so as not to get caught off guard."
'I'm just so happy' - Henderson signs new dealpublished at 15:32 BST 16 September
15:32 BST 16 September
Image source, Getty Images
Crystal Palace goalkeeper and captain Dean Henderson says "my best years are in front of me" after signing a new deal with the club until 2030.
The 29-year-old has made 119 appearances the since arriving at Selhurst Park from Manchester United in August 2023.
The shotstopper has been a key part of the Eagles' recent success, saving the penalty that kept the side in front against Manchester City in May 2025's FA Cup final, and wearing the armband throughout the Uefa Conference League knockout stages last season as the club went on to lift the trophy in Leipzig.
Henderson told the club's website: "I'm delighted. It's been an amazing three years – and I'm just so happy to extend my contract. My best years are in front of me and I'm happy to be giving that to Crystal Palace."
Chairman Steve Parish added: "As well as being an outstanding goalkeeper, Dean is our captain and leader and I'm absolutely delighted that he has extended his contract at Crystal Palace. Here's to even more successful years ahead."
Image source, Getty Images
