Match Preview: Leeds United v Brentford | OneFootball

Brentford take on Leeds United at Elland Road in the Premier League on Saturday (8pm kick-off GMT), live on Sky Sports.

The Bees have won seven of their last nine away league games, but travel to Yorkshire to face a difficult test under the lights against Daniel Farke's side.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Pre-match Analysis

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Set-pieces could prove decisive on Saturday night

Brentford and Leeds' respective penalty records this season will be under the spotlight.

Keith Andrews' side have had the mixed fortune of being awarded the most penalties (eight) in the top flight this term, while also having more spot-kicks (seven) given against them.

Penalty specialist Caoimhín Kelleher's prowess between the sticks has meant that only four of the seven penalties the Bees have conceded have been converted. The Irish stopper excelled in duels from 12 yards during his time at Liverpool, and his uncanny knack for reading penalty takers' intentions means he is currently the only goalkeeper to save multiple spot-kicks in the top tier this season.

Leeds, meanwhile, have suffered more goals from penalties than any team in the division. All six of the penalties conceded by the Whites have rippled the back of the net - and Brentford striker Igor Thiago will be hoping to add to the league-high six penalties he has already plundered this season.

With eight games of the season remaining, both sides have plenty on the line. Currently 15th in the table, Daniel Farke's side will aim to buffer the three-point cushion that separates them from the relegation spots, while their visitors from west London will look to seize the day and cut the four-point gap to the Champions League places.

Only Arsenal (25), Manchester United (24) and Manchester City (21) have won more points than Brentford (19) since the turn of the year, and their excellent form in 2026 has been forged on the road. However, 22 of Leeds' 32 Premier League points (69 per cent) have been won on their own patch - and they will hope to harness the support of a vociferous Elland Road this weekend.

Talk of penalties is timely in the wake of Leeds' 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace last time out. The visitors won their sixth spot-kick of the season at Selhurst Park, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin was left with his head in his hands after dragging his effort wide of the target.

Calvert-Lewin will be fresh in the memories of Brentford fans after his header in the 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at the Gtech prior to Christmas. The former Everton striker is one of only two English players to hit double figures for Premier League goals this season, along with Brighton's Danny Welbeck (10 apiece).

Leeds' missed penalty against the Eagles stemmed from a corner, and their data this season underlines just how important set-pieces are to the Yorkshire club. With 13 goals from corners, free-kicks and throws this season, no team has scored a higher percentage of their Premier League goals from set-pieces (35 per cent).

Brentford are at the other end of the spectrum in terms of their reliance on set-piece goals: only Manchester City (12 per cent) have netted a lower percentage of their goals from dead balls (excluding penalties) than the Bees (17 per cent).

It is wise to expect the unexpected at this stage of the season, but both sides' numbers suggest a direct and physical encounter lies in store.

Brentford rank first in the Premier League for long balls per game (57), with Leeds (54) not far behind, while both sides also sit in the top five for aerial duels won.

Another shared trait is their preference for central shooting positions, with Brentford (77 per cent) and Leeds (74 per cent) heavily favouring efforts from the middle of the opposition box.

In this context, it would be no surprise if a high-pressure moment from 12 yards proved central to the outcome.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Leeds one of the hardest teams to beat in the league

For the first three months of 2025/26, it looked like Leeds’ season was heading in one direction.

They lost six of their seven Premier League games throughout October and November and thus sank into the relegation zone. But, during the final defeat in that run - away at Manchester City - came a turning point.

Clearly feeling the pressure after seeing his side 2-0 down, Daniel Farke switched to a 3-5-2 formation at half-time. By 68 minutes, it was 2-2, thanks to goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha. Phil Foden still managed to win it for City in the 91st minute, but the new approach had worked.

Since then, Leeds have become one of the hardest teams in the league to beat.

The first two games after the visit to the Etihad were both at home, against Chelsea and Liverpool. They won the first 3-1, then came from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 in the second. Over the course of the next eight, they lost only once - and that was only courtesy of a 102nd-minute winner from Harvey Barnes at Newcastle.

The change in fortunes, from a defensive perspective, is plain to see. In the first 13, Leeds were conceding goals at a rate of 1.92 per game, a figure that has now dropped significantly to 1.35 across the most recent 17.

The thing keeping them in the battle for survival is scoring at the other end.

They are currently on a three-game drought and Calvert-Lewin, who was so good in front of goal in December, has only two goals in his last 11 Premier League games. He missed a penalty in last weekend’s draw against Crystal Palace, too.

There has been no such trouble in the FA Cup, though. Granted, Farke’s side have only faced Championship opposition - Derby, Birmingham and Norwich - but they have scored seven goals so far. That has helped book them an FA Cup quarter-final - for the first time since 2002/03 - against West Ham United in early April.

While being just one game away from a Wembley semi-final is a distraction - and a very nice one at that - the job at hand, the bread and butter of the Premier League, is more important.

The fixture list could have been harsher - to finish, it’s Manchester United, Wolves, Bournemouth, Burnley, Tottenham, Brighton and West Ham - but Leeds still need to get the job done. The points required from here will be hard-earned.

With the survival battle reaching a critical point and a huge FA Cup tie to play, the end of the season could well be one for the Leeds United history books.

In the Dugout

Daniel Farke

Before venturing into coaching, Daniel Farke forged a career as a striker in Germany’s lower leagues. A prolific frontman in his day, he had three spells at SV Lippstadt, who are based in western Germany, close to his hometown Steinhausen.

After hanging his boots up, Farke became Lippstadt manager in 2009 and guided his team to back-to-back promotions from the sixth tier to the fourth.

Farke stayed at Stadion Am Bruchbaum for six years in all until, in November 2015, he took the job at Borussia Dortmund II, who were also in the fourth tier of German football. In his first season, they finished fourth and in his second, they finished second, nine points behind champions Viktoria Köln. When his contract was not renewed, Farke took the opportunity to move abroad for the first time and sign a two-year deal at Norwich City.

He remained at Carrow Road for just shy of four-and-a-half years, managing 208 games in all competitions and leading the Canaries to the Championship title in both 2018/19 and 2020/21. Norwich took just five points from their opening 11 Premier League games in 2021/22, however, and he was sacked in November 2021, less than four months after signing a new four-year contract.

Two months later, in January 2022, Farke signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at Russian side Krasnodar. Yet he never once managed a game and left in March, less than a fortnight after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He subsequently returned to Germany to take over at Borussia Mönchengladbach, but was sacked just one season into a three-year contract with Die Fohlen.

Since 4 July 2023, Farke has been Leeds manager and is approaching his 150th game in charge of the club he is under contract with until the summer of 2027.

The Gameplan

With Beren Cross, The Athletic

Beren Cross of The Athletic explains how Leeds are likely to line up on Monday night.

"There will be a desire for Leeds to really go for it and, without being too gung-ho, really try to assert themselves," he told brentfordfc.com earlier this week. "It will definitely be a back three or back five or sorts, and I imagine it will be all guns blazing.

"I do not think it will be long balls up to Calvert-Lewin and then flick-ons; they can play through the thirds as well, and those wing-backs are so important in terms of providing that passing option out wide and overwhelming an opposition backline as well.

They can stretch the pitch, in that sense, and then get crosses into Calvert-Lewin. Without getting too bogged down in tactical speak,

"Brentford should expect Leeds to try and get on the front foot and harness the atmosphere in the first 10 to 15 minutes."

Last Premier League starting XI (3-4-1-2): Darlow; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Justin, Ampadu, Stach, Gudmundsson; Aaronson; Calvert-Lewin, Nmecha

Match Officials

Gillett refereeing Leeds clash

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Assistants: Simon Long and Nick Greenhalgh

Fourth official: Anthony Backhouse

VAR: Matthew Donohue

Born on the Gold Coast, Australia, highly rated A-League referee Jarred Gillett emigrated to England in 2019 to study at Liverpool John Moore’s University, specialising in research on children with Cerebral Palsy.

He went on to make his EFL officiating debut in April of that same year.

Gillett made history in September 2021 when he became the first overseas official to referee a Premier League match when he took charge of Watford v Newcastle United.

His last Brentford assignment was the Bees’ 2-0 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion in February.

Gillett has refereed 20 games this season, showing 76 yellow cards and one red.

Last Meeting

Brentford 1 Leeds United 1, (Premier League, 14 December 2025)

Jordan Henderson's first Brentford goal was cancelled out by Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the Bees were held to a 1-1 draw by Leeds United at Gtech Community Stadium.

The England international struck midway through the second half, finishing low into the bottom corner after Jaka Bijol could only touch a cross from Rico Henry into his path, before paying tribute to his former Liverpool team-mate, the late Diogo Jota, with his celebration.

Daniel Farke's side levelled on 82 minutes with Calvert-Lewin guiding a Wilfried Gnonto cross into the far corner of Caoimhín Kelleher's goal.