Leeds United face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League this weekend, with Thomas Frank’s side having finished 17th last season under Ange Postecoglou.
In that sense, this is not the same Spurs team it once was with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min tearing Leeds United apart in their last stay in the Premier League from 2020-2023.
Since a famous FA Cup win in 2012/13, with Leeds winning 2-1 against Gareth Bale and co. thanks to a stunning Ross McCormack strike, there have been six meetings in the Premier League.
Spurs have won five of those, including doing the double over Leeds in each of the last two top flight seasons, winning 4-1 (A) and 4-3 (H) in 2023/24 and 4-0 (A) and 2-1 (H) in 2022/23.
Outside of those games, Leeds and Tottenham have featured in Premier League thrillers previously. However, this is still a chance for the Whites to make more of the game than in seasons gone by, and the numbers show why.
Spurs’ attacking woes offer Leeds hope, here’s why
Not only do Leeds have a long unbeaten run to protect at Elland Road, which spans back over a year now to September 2024, but they are also performing better than anticipated from their eight-point start to the campaign.
As an example, the stats and the final result show that Leeds held their own against Bournemouth far better than Spurs did during their 1-0 home defeat to Andoni Iraola’s side recently.
Against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt, Spurs had to equalise in additional time from Richarlison in midweek’s UEFA Champions League game as well. Despite just two defeats under Frank (one on penalties to PSG), they are evidently still finding their feet under Frank.
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Leeds have won just two of the last 14 games against Spurs, which includes that 2-1 FA Cup win in 2013 and a 3-1 win in front of no fans under Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road in May 2021.
However, in an attacking sense for Spurs, the data suggests Leeds can shut them out. Ally McCoist believes Leeds have a chance vs Tottenham, too. Leeds have lost 10 of the last 14 encounters in this fixture, though.
As shown by analyst and writer Anthony Dabbundo, Spurs generated 0.56 open play xG against Wolves, 1.18 vs Brighton, 0.39 vs Villarreal, 0.60 vs West Ham, and 0.15 vs Bournemouth. Last night, FotMob suggest that was 0.89 against Bodo/Glimt.
Leeds may well have scored 95 goals last season, but their strength has been in making games cagey, low-margin, and tight. Outside of that Arsenal thumping, they have learned lessons and been able to do so.
Despite what Opta think Spurs can do to Leeds at Elland Road, that bodes well for Daniel Farke, given the attacking issues depicted above from their visitors.
Harry Kane’s sensational record for Spurs against Leeds
The referee has been chosen for Leeds against Tottenham, and they will hope for a solid performance here and no soft penalties or anything else of that nature.
Fortunately for Leeds, Kane will not be playing. The former Spurs striker has a sensational record against them. In eight games, he has won five and drawn one, but it’s the damage he did in terms of scoring which is the major issue.
Kane has five goals and two assists against Leeds in those games. That includes two goals in his last visit to Elland Road and an assist and a goal in 2022 the year before as well.
Leeds’ nemesis will not be present this weekend, although Spurs’ frontline has enough goal threats to consider without him on Saturday.