Manchester City travel to Leeds United with one eye on the next day’s match between Arsenal and Chelsea, as they look to close the gap at the top and keep the pressure up on the Gunners.
With Leeds in good form recently, though, it will not make for an easy trip and that means it should be an exciting watch.
Here’s everything you need to know about the match:
How to watch
The match will be broadcast on Saturday on TNT Sports 1 in the UK, Peacock in the U.S., Jio Hotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live coverage here.
Key Details
Kick-off time: Saturday, Feb. 28 at 5.30 p.m. GMT (12.30 p.m. ET; 11:00 p.m. IST and 4.30 a.m. AEDT)
Venue: Elland Road, Leeds
Referee: Peter Bankes
VAR: Paul Howard
Injury News
Leeds United
Noah Okafor, F: OUT, hamstring
Man City
Josko Gvardiol, D: OUT, ankle
Max Alleyne, D: DOUBT, knock
Mateo Kovacic, M: OUT, ankle
Jérémy Doku, F: DOUBT, calf
Can Haaland get that scoring touch back?
Erling Haaland leads the Premier League Golden Boot race by a margin, with 22 goals. So then, what’s the problem you ask? Nineteen of those 22 came in the first 17 matches; over the 10 matches, he’s scored just three. It’s not just a drought for someone of Haaland’s calibre, it’s a drought compared to the Haaland of the first half of this very season.
One of the only games he struggled in in that first half was the home game vs. Leeds: but as he travels to the city of his birth, Haaland will be keen to rediscover his shooting boots. After looking particularly poor over the month of January, he’s looked sharp again in recent games, even if the goals haven’t flowed.
City have others sharing the goalscoring duties now, but with the business end upon us, they’d much appreciate it if their main man gets going again.
Leeds won’t want to get dragged down to a relegation fight
Leeds’ current form has been excellent. Unbeaten in February (W1, D2), only the two Manchester clubs have lost fewer games (2) since December — even if Leeds have drawn the most matches in this period (8). It’s this duality that Daniel Farke will want to address.
Although six points clear of 18th placed West Ham United, Farke will know that it’ll only take a few bad results for his side to get dragged into a relegation dog fight come the end of the season. The one way to avoid that is to keep up their recent uptick of form, buoyed by Farke’s mid-season shift to a back three and goals coming in from all quarters.
A big result against City will be exactly the kind of thing that will spur them to keep that momentum up.
Can City keep the pressure on Arsenal?
Like most of the coming matchdays, Man City play before Arsenal do and that’s an equation Pep Guardiola will love. One, because of their record in such matches — City have only lost one of their last 14 league games when playing the day before Arsenal (W10 D3). Two, because this is exactly how City can pile the pressure on Arsenal.
A win on Saturday cuts Arsenal’s lead back to two ahead of their big game against Champions League-chasing Chelsea… and that’s exactly where Guardiola wants to keep it, with their game-in-hand and that home match vs Arsenal coming up soon.
Leeds need to stop letting in late goals
This season, Leeds have allowed opponents to score 12 goals from the 86th minute onwards — the most of any side in the league. These 12 goals have translated into another league high nine points dropped at the death.
That’s the kind of thing that keeps a team from competing for Europe and instead has them floating just above a potential relegation battle. This has been a major reason why they have drawn more matches since December than anyone else in the division — in three of their last four draws, they took a 1-0 lead before ending up with a 1-1 draw (sample last weekend’s draw vs Aston Villa, where they conceded in the 88th minute).
Farke will be keen for his side to kick this habit.
What do the numbers say?
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Leeds have lost each of their last five Premier League games against Man City
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Man City have won their last two away league games against Leeds — only once have they won three consecutively, and that was when they first went to Elland Road, between 1924 and 1928.
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Haaland scored two goals on his last league visit to Elland Road in December 2022. No visiting player has scored 2+ goals in consecutive Premier League era visits to the stadium.
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Nico O’Reilly has scored in each of his last two Premier League appearances for Manchester City. The last City player to net in three in a row before the age of 21 was Phil Foden in 2020.
