Pre-match warnings backed up by reality — Graham Smyth's Palace Verdict — Leedsunited.com 28/9/26

Leeds United go into international break unbeaten in Premier League after 0-0 draw.

As so often can be the case, the spectacular - Monday's battering of Newcastle United - was followed by something a lot more humdrum.

Leeds United's 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace will not live long in the memory, but when considered in the context of the season's opening stanza it plays its part. Heading into the extended hiatus, Leeds sit fifth in a Premier League table as one of only five unbeaten sides. The clean sheet also ensured that Leeds will go to champions Arsenal on 10th October with the division's meanest goals-against tally and just a three-point gap to the second-placed Gunners.

That victory over Newcastle, or rather the manner of it, lent itself to a certain level of expectation prior to kick-off. Daniel Farke and James Justin both recognised as much in their pre-game utterances but sounded respective warnings that Palace's three points from their opening four games did not tell the full story. What transpired in the afternoon sun at Elland Road backed the caution up. Where the Magpies were mauled, the Eagles dared to dig in.

Leeds started on the front foot, winning a pair of early free-kicks deep in Palace territory and an opportunity for Ethan Ampadu to hurl a long throw into the area. The visitors defended all three set-pieces and broke off the last one to threaten for the first time, Quinten Timber sending a shot well over the bar.

Tarik Muharemović busied himself at both ends of the pitch in the opening 10 minutes, heading over from a corner and then sliding in to deny Jorgen Strand Larsen with a perfectly-timed but vital challenge in his own box.

A congested midfield made it difficult for either side to play much in the way of pretty stuff through the centre, but both managed to create varying degrees of danger. For Leeds it was another Ampadu throw, flicked to the back post where Ao Tanaka wrapped his foot around the ball and sent it high over the bar. At the other end Daichi Kamada squeezed a low shot through a crowd and brought James Trafford into the action.

With almost all of the promising moments coming from the left flank, Leeds went that way again and again in search of an opener. Gabriel Gudmundsson dug out a wicked back-post cross that was met by a Jayden Bogle shot, Tyrick Mitchell on hand to block. Noah Okafor grew in influence, sending in a delivery that forced Walter Benitez to punch the ball only as far as Tanaka who once more sent his shot off-target. Both Gudmundsson and Okafor got away from markers to win corners. But when the break came it was goalless and far from a classic.

The opening minutes of the second half brought a flurry of dangerous moments for the visitors in their first burst of sustained pressure. Trafford got down sharply to tip Yéremy Pino's free-kick around the post, Dominic Calvert-Lewin had to throw himself into a physical defence of the resulting corner and then Kamada pushed an effort past the far post.

The pressure appeared to tell when Anan Khalaili burst onto a pass in the right channel, squared the ball and Mitchell fired it home. A VAR intervention over the tightest of offside calls clipped the Eagles' celebrations and brought all four of Elland Road's stands roaring back into the fixture.

Leeds' right flank came back to the party too, Bogle rouletting past his man so James Justin could whip in a cross that Calvert-Lewin met sweetly, only for Benitez to pull out a superb stop.

But a free-flowing encounter never really threatened to break out. Instead the sides traded meaty challenges, long throws, time in possession and yellow cards - for Tanaka and Adam Wharton. In a game with zero control, it swung back and forth. Sloppiness in possession just about everywhere made it difficult to move the ball quickly enough to draw the Eagles out of their shape.

And though it was transitional, it remained attritional with both defences holding firm. Entering the final 10 minutes it became more and more obvious that a single piece of magic was all that could separate the teams. That made it all the more important that Justin nipped in to take down a dangerous delivery, chest it and poke it away, winning a free-kick to boot.

If that moment had Elland Road holding its collective breath, a free header for Kamada that took an age to bounce wide of the far post brought an audible sigh of relief. Ampadu's perfect challenge in his own area brought a roar of approval.

Daniel Farke turned to his substitutes in the final stages and both Lukas Nmecha and debutant Jean-Mattéo Bahoya were able to win free-kicks that led to yellow cards but neither found themselves with a chance to win it. Palace too sent on reinforcements and ex-Leeds loanee Eddie Nketiah played fellow sub Ismaïla Sarr into the area before Muharemović got a toe in again.

Ultimately neither side were able to say they deserved more than a point. Both were well worth what they held in their hands at full-time. Last season's aim, other than staying up, was to create a side that was competitive at Premier League level. A team that will make you work extremely hard to stand a chance of beating them.

After five games, admittedly a small sample size, there is already a body of evidence that suggests those foundations remain in place. Leeds have and will perform better than they did against Palace. This game will be hard to remember but Leeds United are still hard to beat.