Bournemouth eyeing consecutive league victories over Leeds.
Leeds United vs. Bournemouth kicks off at 15:00 [GMT+1] on Saturday, September 27, at Elland Road.
In 12th place, Leeds [WLDLW] make a return for Premier League action against Bournemouth as they look to climb a few places up the table. Daniel Farke’s men picked up their first win of the campaign last weekend with a 3-1 triumph away to Wolves, ending a run of three goalless games in the Premier League. The Whites now have the chance to score three or more in back-to-back top-flight matches for the first time since November 2022 — one of those high-scoring wins also came against Bournemouth, a dramatic 4-3 thriller at Elland Road. Luckily, they have enjoyed a flawless home record against Bournemouth in league football. The Whites have won all seven of their home meetings with the Cherries, scoring 18 goals and conceding just four. No other side in Leeds’ league history has been faced at home so often while maintaining a 100% win record. The challenge now is whether they can extend that dominance against one of the most in-form teams in the division. The most recent encounter between the sides, however, went in Bournemouth’s favour. The Cherries thrashed Leeds 4-1 at the Vitality Stadium in April 2023, a result that proved to be Javi Gracia’s final game in charge. In addition, the Whites can draw confidence from their defensive record at home. They are yet to concede a goal at Elland Road this season, and only two newly promoted teams in Premier League history — Swansea in 2011-12 and Watford in 2015-16 — have ever managed to keep clean sheets in their first three home games of a campaign. It’s a trend they would be keen to extend. A 4—3—3 formation with Noah Okafor, Brenden Aaronson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in attack is expected.
Bournemouth have never beaten Leeds in consecutive league games, though, and they will be aiming to break new ground at Elland Road on Saturday. The history books may favour Leeds, but the visitors arrive in Yorkshire boasting their best-ever start to a Premier League season. With 10 points from five games (W3 D1 L1), the Cherries have equalled their joint-best start to a Premier League campaign, a record previously set in 2018-19. More impressively, they enter this round sitting fourth in the table — the highest they’ve ever been at this stage of a season in the top flight. Andoni Iraola will be hoping his side’s early season form can stretch beyond the weekend. A 4—2—3—1 formation with Evanilson was seen in last weekend’s goalless draw with Newcastle United and is expected again here.