Joao Cancelo and Erling Haaland near landmarks – Stat Preview: Leeds United vs Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City travel to Elland Road on Wednesday night in search of a return to winning ways as the Premier League returns for the champions after the World Cup.

City ended the first half of the season on a down note, falling to a 1-2 home defeat to Brentford, as an Ivan Toney brace put current league leaders Arsenal further into the driving seat at the top of the table.

Pep Guardiola’s side have however already returned in fine fashion, as they dismissed Liverpool from the Carabao Cup in the fourth round, as goals from Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, and Nathan Ake secured a 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium last week.

Jesse Marsch’s stubborn Leeds United outfit will likely cause plenty of issues for the reigning champions this week however, as City look to reduce the gap to Arsenal to five points after Mikel Arteta’s side came from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 on Boxing Day.

Ahead of the trip to Yorkshire this week, here are the notable and pending statistics around both sides for this fixture!

Leeds United

• Leeds haven’t won any of their last seven Premier League home games against reigning champions (D2, L5), since a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in May 1999.

• Leeds lost their final home league game of 2021, going down 4-1 against Arsenal.

• Leeds haven’t lost their last game at Elland Road in consecutive calendar years since 2000/2001 (against Aston Villa and Newcastle).
• Leeds United’s final two league games before the World Cup were a 4-3 home win against Bournemouth and a 4-3 defeat at Tottenham. They came back from 3-1 down versus the Cherries and were ahead three times at Spurs before losing.
• Leeds are one short of equalling the club Premier League record for the most goals conceded in a calendar year: 70 in 2003.
• Leeds have won three of their seven home league fixtures this season, only one fewer than their total number of victories at Elland Road last season.
• Rodrigo and Crysencio Summerville both scored in each of Leeds’ final four league matches before the World Cup. It was the first time a pair of team-mates had netter in four successive Premier League games.

Manchester City

• Having lost against Brentford in their last Premier League game before the World Cup break, Manchester City are looking to avoid losing consecutive league games for the first time since December 2018.
• Manchester City are the only side in the last 13 seasons to not be top on Christmas Day but still go on to lift the Premier League title, having done so on three occasions in 2013/14, 2018/19, and 2020/21.
• Manchester City have not scored from open play in any of their last four away matches in all competitions.
• Pep Guardiola has lost eight Premier League matches as a manager in December, at least twice as many as in any other month.

Previous Meetings

• Having remained unbeaten against Manchester City in their first season back in the Premier League in 2020/21 (W1, D1), Leeds lost both meetings with the Citizens last term by an aggregate score of 11-0.
• Manchester City won this exact fixture 4-0 in April last season, last winning back-to-back away league games against Leeds in September 2000.
• Manchester City scored 11 goals without reply against Leeds last season, winning 7-0 at home and 4-0 at Elland Road.
• Manchester City can win three consecutive league matches versus Leeds for the first time since a run of four from 1980 to 1983.

Potential Landmarks

• Joao Cancelo’s next appearance for Manchester City will be his 150th for the club across all competitions.

• Erling Haaland’s next Manchester City goal will be his 25th across all competitions for the club.