Daniel Farke's switch to a 3-5-2 formation continued to pay dividends for Leeds United as they posted a dominant 4-1 victory against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday. The victory moved them into 16th in the table where they are six points clear of 18th-placed West Ham, who were beaten by Manchester City earlier in the day. But their resurgence can be traced back to the game that followed that loss - a narrow 3-2 defeat by Manchester City when Farke sacrificed his possession-based 4-3-3 system for a counter-attacking style. He has now scored against City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Brentford and now Palace to emulate the likes of Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Rod Wallace who previously scored in five consecutive Premier League fixtures for the club. And if Leeds and Calvert-Lewin can continue creating problems for their opponents like they did to Palace, they will be welcoming the new year with a renewed sense of optimism.

Source: BBC December 21, 2025 02:39 UTC