Leeds United vs Crystal Palace: Premier League Clash with High Stakes
Elland Road gets another big afternoon. Leeds United, sitting fourth in the Premier League, host a Crystal Palace side stuck down in 16th and trying to stop the slide before it becomes a season-long theme.
Kick-off is set for 14:00 on 20 September 2026, and the table tells you everything about the stakes. Leeds are hunting Europe. Palace are trying to stay out of trouble.
How to watch around the world
The fixture is being shown live across the globe, with a long list of broadcasters carrying the game.
In the UK and Ireland, coverage is available via Sky Go. Across much of continental Europe it’s split: Sky Sport has the rights in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and San Marino, while Canal+ shows it in France and Monaco, and Viaplay carries it in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Poland. Spain-based viewers can watch through DAZN Spain, and Portugal via DAZN Portugal.
Further afield, India has the game on JioHotstar, Indonesia on Vidio, and Japan on U-NEXT. In Australia, Stan Sport has the broadcast, while New Zealand and a cluster of Pacific islands – including Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati and the Cook Islands – are covered by Sky Sport.
Across Africa, DStv Now and SuperSport dominate the coverage, with DStv Now available in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and many more, while SuperSport carries the game in South Africa, Benin, Comoros, Central African Republic and Albania. The Middle East and North Africa region is largely served by beIN Sports, including Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and several others.
North, Central and South America are split between Disney+ Premium, TNT Sports / Max and Max. Disney+ Premium shows the game in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and a wide sweep of Caribbean territories, from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to Barbados and the Bahamas. Max has rights in Mexico (alongside TNT Sports / Max), Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. In Canada, DAZN is the destination.
Elsewhere, local broadcasters step in: Astro in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, StarHub in Singapore, Now Player in Hong Kong, ELTA OTT in Chinese Taipei, MONOMAX in Cambodia and Laos, Arena Sport across much of the Balkans, Setanta Sports in Georgia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Moldova, and a host of national sports channels such as Idman TV in Azerbaijan, Nova Sports in Greece, Diema Sport in Bulgaria, Digi Sport in Romania, Cytavision Sports in Cyprus, and SÝN Sport in Iceland.
From Andorra to Vatican City, from Seychelles to Mauritius, from Luxembourg to Malta, there is a designated broadcaster in almost every corner of the map.
Watching with a VPN
For supporters outside those territories – or stuck behind local blackout rules – a VPN offers a workaround.
The process is simple. Sign up with a reputable VPN provider and install the app on your chosen device. Open it, pick a server in a country where the match is being shown, and connect. Clearing your browser’s cookies can help the new virtual location register properly.
Once that’s done, head to the relevant broadcaster’s website or app and start the stream.
Fans wanting the game on a big screen rather than a phone have options too. Many Smart TVs and Android-based devices such as Amazon Fire TV Stick or Google Chromecast with Google TV support native VPN apps. Download the VPN directly to the TV, log in, and connect as you would on a laptop.
Apple TV, Roku and most consoles don’t usually support VPN apps. Here, Smart DNS – often provided within your VPN account settings – or casting/mirroring from a VPN-connected phone or laptop to the TV becomes the go-to solution.
Team news: Farke leans on balance, Sage shuffles a stretched squad
Daniel Farke is expected to stick with a strong, balanced Leeds XI.
James Trafford is set to start in goal. Ahead of him, a back four of James Justin, Tarik Muharemovic, Nico Elvedi and Gabriel Gudmundsson should offer a mix of composure and energy. Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka are lined up as the double pivot in midfield, tasked with screening the defence and setting the tempo.
Higher up, Noah Okafor brings movement and direct running, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin leads the line, a focal point for crosses and quick combinations. Farke will have to cope without Mateo Joseph, Joe Rodon and Harry Wilson, all ruled out through injury.
Crystal Palace arrive with problems of their own.
Pierre Sage is set to start Walter Benitez in goal, protected by a defence built around Takehiro Tomiyasu, Chris Richards, Jaydee Canvot and Tyrick Mitchell. In midfield, Adam Wharton and Quinten Timber are projected to form the central pairing, with Joergen Strand Larsen spearheading the attack.
Palace are missing key pieces. Axel Disasi is suspended, while Chadi Riad, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Dean Henderson are all sidelined through injury. Sage must find solutions on the fly, with his side hovering too close to the bottom for comfort.
Form guide: Leeds’ statement win, Palace’s wild swings
Leeds come in with the kind of form that underpins a top-four push. Two wins, two draws and just one defeat from their last five in all competitions tell of a side that knows how to grind and when to cut loose.
The standout result arrived on 14 September: a 4-1 dismantling of Newcastle United in the league, a performance that underlined their attacking threat. They also handled Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the Carabao Cup, showing depth and control. The blemish is hard to ignore – a chaotic 6-3 defeat to Chelsea in the same competition – but across those five matches they’ve scored nine and conceded eight. High event, high risk, high reward.
Palace’s recent run has been just as dramatic, but far less stable.
They’ve won three and lost two of their last five in all competitions. The headline result came most recently: a 4-0 Europa League demolition of Lech Poznan on 17 September, a timely reminder that this side can cut teams open when it clicks.
Yet the Premier League tells a harsher story. A 3-2 defeat at home to Ipswich Town followed a 3-2 win away at Fulham, the kind of back-and-forth that keeps a team hovering in the lower reaches of the table. A 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over Middlesbrough adds gloss, but the numbers are stark: 12 scored, seven conceded in five games. They punch, they get punched back.
Head-to-head: Leeds with the edge
The recent history between these two leans slightly towards Leeds.
Their last meeting, at Selhurst Park in March 2026, ended in a goalless draw – a tight, tense league contest with little to separate them. Go back to December 2025 and the picture changes. Leeds tore into Palace at Elland Road, winning 4-1 and setting a marker.
Across the five most recent fixtures in the current dataset, Leeds have two wins to Palace’s one, with two draws between them. Only nine goals have been scored in those games, which hints at a series often decided by fine margins rather than shootouts.
The table doesn’t lie
Leeds sit fourth. Palace are 16th.
That gap shapes everything about this afternoon. Farke’s side are looking up, chasing European qualification and trying to turn Elland Road into a place where momentum builds week after week. Palace are looking over their shoulders, desperate to stop inconsistency from dragging them into a survival scrap.
One club trying to lock in a new era at the top end of the table. The other fighting to make sure this season doesn’t become a long, nervous grind.
Which direction does this story go next?
