Leeds are learning to be “Dirty Leeds” again with some genuine Premier League quality. We dismantled Crystal Palace 4–1 which their coach Glasner found embarrassing.
There were so many odd moments about this game – Rodon wandering forward, Leeds scoring only from set pieces, a match that should have been a clean sheet except for the crazy penalty foul. And Leeds beating a team vying for a European place.
Since Farke saved his job by reinventing Leeds the points and goals have started to flow. There is a new playbook to how Leeds play. First, try and win an early goal. Then close down the game leaving the fans with a boring first half watching the midfield swamped with players. Start the second half going for a goal. Then step up a gear and physically bully the other team until they mistakes. Throughout, Ampadu takes long throws into their penalty box, Perri kicks to DCL to hold the ball up, and Stach is the man who can with corners and free kicks. Finally, the late wobble. Once the subs are on, the game goes flat but Leeds lose their shape and, for one nervous moment when Palace hit the post, the game looked like it could have turned.
But what makes all this work is the sheer physicality of the Leeds play. Gone is the defensive timidity of the early season. Now, we have Glasner complaining Leeds bullied them off the ball.
The new: 3-5-2
Daniel Farke’s new 3-5-2 formation works because the players we have fit it. When they are defending, they go back to a 4-4-2. This worked well against Palace who managed only a handful of shots on goal all match. Struijk and Bijol are now confident enough to play out from the back.
The Physical Edge & The Referee
The referee was incredibly lenient on Palace early on, letting some heavy fouls slide, which really got the Elland Road crowd on his back. Aaronson was denied a clear penalty because the Palace player grazed the ball just before hacking Brendan down. By the end of the first half, he finally found his cards and started booking them, but the tension was already sky-high.
DCL hits a purple patch
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has now scored 6 goals in his last 5 matches. After a quiet start his career now looks back in form – with his headers, great placement in the penalty box and ability to hold up the goal kick he is now powering Leeds up the table. What’s even more tactical is how we got those goals. In a rare feat for the Premier League, all four Leeds goals came from set pieces:
* The Opener (38’): Ethan Ampadu has been a weapon with those long throws. After a few warnings, one finally caused enough chaos for a scruffy finish from DCL.
* The Header (45+4’): Right before the break, another high lob into the box saw DCL lose his man and power a header home. 2–0 at the half.
* The Skipper’s Strike (60’): In the second half, the atmosphere went into a total “fizz.” After the fans spent five minutes singing Last Christmas dedicated to Calvert-Lewin, Ampadu topped off a captain’s performance with a rare goal from a corner scramble.
* The Set-Piece Specialist (90+11’): After a silly Lucas Perri penalty gave Palace a consolation goal, Anton Stach stepped up. VAR corrected a penalty back to a free kick, but it didn’t matter—Stach buried it with precision.
Players playing like a team
* Ethan Ampadu is looking like a leader, which is critical for Leeds to pull together as a team.
* Lucas Perri, despite the “silly” late penalty, is making crucial saves to keep Leeds in the match. Some of his kicks are wayward but when he finds DCL Leeds attack in numbers.
* Okafor & Gudmundsson: their physicality and forward play made sure Palace never felt comfortable on the ball.
Merry Christmas
As the stadium announcer wished us all a Merry Christmas after the final whistle, you could feel the relief. This was the last game before Christmas and the noise around the ground fizzed at times which made the players play more offensively. The ground is never quiet now.
Man of Match: Calvert Lewin with his brace of goals.
This was the best match by far of the 25/26 Season. 💙💛