Daniel Farke insisted Leeds United's form over recent months is "not a coincidence" as they prepare to host Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Leeds are third in the league heading into matchday five, with only Arsenal and Manchester City (12) bettering the Whites' eight points so far this season.

This is their best start since 2001-02 under David O'Leary (also W2 D2). Should Leeds beat Palace, it would be their joint-best start to a Premier League season after five games, having won 11 points in that 2001-02 campaign.

Confidence is high in the Leeds camp following their 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle United last time out, and Farke does not believe their results are coming via luck.

"It's not a coincidence. It's quality," said Farke. "Nothing can be taken for granted in this league. The table is currently not important. Eight points are important.

"But it's not enough to achieve what we want. The first step is 40 points as quickly as possible."

Palace, meanwhile, have won just one of their Premier League games under Pierre Sage (L3), though they have fared better in other competitions.

The Eagles defeated Middlesbrough 3-0 to reach the fourth round of the EFL Cup, while they began their Europa League campaign with a 4-0 win over Lech Poznan.

While Sage is pleased with their overall form, he acknowledged Palace's league results must improve.

"It’s always good to win in the cups, but the Premier League is our daily job," said Sage.

"We are late in this one because I think we deserved better at Everton and maybe better against Ipswich, and we have a lot of things to manage better in our way of playing.

"Now we need points, and I know that Leeds are really a good team. I saw them at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, and I saw the game against Newcastle too, and they are really, really good."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Leeds United – Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Calvert-Lewin has scored in each of his last five home Premier League games, becoming only the second Leeds player to achieve that after Mark Viduka between March and August 2003.

The last Englishman to score in six consecutive home top-flight appearances for Leeds was Arthur Hydes between October and December 1932.

Crystal Palace – Jorgen Strand Larsen

Strand Larsen has scored in 16 Premier League matches, but he has ended on the losing side in eight of those (50%).

He's one of three players to score in 15+ games and lose as many as half of those, after Danny Dichio (lost 9/17, 53%) and Heidar Helguson (lost 13/26, 50%).

MATCH PREDICTION – LEEDS UNITED WIN

Leeds have won four of their last six Premier League home games against Palace, losing the others in August 1997 (0-2) and April 2023 (1-5).

Since December 2025, Leeds have won the fifth-most points in the Premier League (44), behind Arsenal (67), City (65), Manchester United (54) and Liverpool (45), losing just five of 29 matches (W10 D14).

Palace, however, have lost just one of their last five Premier League games against Leeds (W2 D2), though it was in this exact fixture last season (4-1).

The Eagles have conceded two or more goals in each of their last 10 Premier League matches – only Fulham have ever had a longer run in the competition's history, going 13 games in a row from January to April 2019.

Palace have faced the most xG (8.15), conceded the most goals (11), faced the joint most shots on target (26) and allowed their opponents the most touches in their own box (164) in the Premier League so far this season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Leeds United – 55.6%

Draw – 23%

Crystal Palace – 21.4%