Leeds United

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

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Dominic Calvert-Lewin's England recall is testament to the striker's self-belief and desire to emerge from the dark times of seasons when he struggled with injury.

When he spoke of renewed England ambitions after completing a free transfer from Everton to Leeds United in the summer, eyebrows were raised at both his optimism and whether Thomas Tuchel would ever seriously feel the need to call on him.

Now, Calvert-Lewin's rejuvenation and continued fitness at Elland Road has prompted a return for the 29-year-old, who won 11 caps and made his last appearance in July 2021 when he played 17 minutes off the bench against Ukraine at the delayed Euros.

Calvert-Lewin deserves huge credit for his persistence - but his call-up also underscores a huge concern for England and Tuchel.

That worry is the massive drop-off in proven quality at international level should any misfortune befall England captain and record goalscorer Harry Kane.

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins was long considered the deputy, scoring the winner in the Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands, but his patchy club form means he is not even included in this squad.

Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke is the other striker, making his way back this season after several months on the sidelines with an ankle problem.

Marcus Rashford could fill the role but is now used in the wider positions, while Anthony Gordon has played through the centre for Newcastle United without ever looking a neat fit.

This demonstrates the alternatives to Kane - aged 32 but still in magnificent form for Bayern Munich - are worryingly thin for Tuchel and England.

Calvert-Lewin's inclusion is a heart-warming redemption tale, but Tuchel and England supporters must pray nothing happens to Kane, who has scored 78 goals in 112 appearances, or their World Cup hopes could be wrecked.

Read more on Tuchel's England squad here

There are just eight games remaining in the 2025-26 campaign and four of those are at home for Leeds United.

Up next are Brentford, who visit Elland Road on Saturday evening before the intentional break.

And it's that game that Jonny Buchan, Adam Pope and Kaiser Chiefs' bassist Simon Rix preview on the latest episode of Don't Go To Bed Just Yet.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Explore all Leeds United content on BBC Sounds

England manager Thomas Tuchel has named his 35-man squad for the two friendlies against Uruguay and Japan in March.

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle United), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion).

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan).

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace).

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur).

There are 13 players involved who weren't in the last squad back in November, while there's a first senior call-up for Everton midfielder James Garner and Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele.

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Anton Stach says Leeds boss Daniel Farke has been a "a big big help" in him earning a recall to the Germany squad for the forthcoming international break.

Stach has become a key part of Farke's midfield this season after his summer move from Hoffenheim, scoring four goals and providing three assists, but has not featured for the national team since 2022.

"It was a surprise because my last call-up was four years ago, but I was hard-working for this season and the last season so it's a very good feeling," Stach told BBC Radio Leeds' Adam Pope.

"I do not like to speculate, I try to stay with myself and work on my weaknesses to strengthen my strengths. I did this and tried to focus on my game and the rest is not my decision."

In his pre-Brentford news conference on Thursday, Farke said Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann will get "a top-class character and guy" and that Stach's call-up is "well deserved".

When asked how much credit Farke deserves for his impressive performances, Stach said: "I have to thank him a lot because he trusts in me, he puts me on the pitch so I can show my abilities and it is also the way he is coaching me. I have to be very thankful and I have to go into his office and say 'thank you'!

"I've gained more experience and on a different level, because in the Premier League there are many of the best players in the world. It is good to compete with them and I want to show my abilities in driving the ball, my passing, the strengths in duels. There is still a big space to improve but I think I am on a good way. "

Listen to the full chat below or on BBC Sounds

In this week's edition of the Football Interview, Kelly Somers speaks to Brighton midfielder James Milner.

They discuss his journey from joining the Leeds academy to breaking the appearance record in the Premier League at the age of 40.

He talks about the best managers he's played under as well as the highs and lows of his Premier League career which started way back in 2002.

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brentford at Elland Road (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Noah Okafor is available for selection after returning to training earlier this week.

• Farke said James Justin is "a natural replacement" for Gabriel Gudmundsson, who is suspended for this game, but there are also "other options" within the squad.

• On whether he or the club have received an apology for Gudmundsson's dismissal at Crystal Palace last Sunday: "Personally not, but I also haven't checked as it doesn't make much of a difference. Even an apology wouldn't help us. He's out and we have to cope with the situation."

• Farke said "there's still work to do" to secure Premier League survival, with him estimating they need "six to eight points" from the remaining eight games. He added: "I am pretty sure we will prove that we deserve to stay in this league."

• On opponents Brentford: "They have many threats and [Igor] Thiago is in red-hot form. A really strong midfield, they are physical and their centre-backs can score too. It will be a difficult game. We need a pretty complex performance like always."

• Farke said Anton Stach being called up for the German national team "is well deserved as he has delivered goals and assists" this season for Leeds. He added: "If you play with this quality and consistency in the best league in the world then you have the chance to get a call-up. Julian [Nagelsmann] will get a top-class character and guy. I hope he [Stach] can grab this chance with both hands."

Hit play above to hear more from Farke or listen on BBC Sounds here

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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We are getting to the stage of the season where every Premier League team is managing injuries in their squad as the sheer volume and intensity of games begins to take its toll.

But who has been most affected by injuries across the campaign so far?

Ben Dinnery, from Premier Injuries Limited, has provided the data below, showing the number of domestic injuries each top-flight team has suffered, defined by a player missing at least one Premier League game.

The data has been taken from the opening weekend up to and including 18 March.

Despite this table listing domestic injuries, it is unsurprising that the top three of Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa have all competed in European competition, with the Gunners still fighting on four fronts and the Blues also coming off the back of a much-shortened pre-season following their Club World Cup victory.

Perhaps more surprisingly, however, is the fact Arsenal's 31 domestic injuries so far comfortably leads the way, illustrating the strength and depth available to Mikel Arteta to still have his side nine points clear at the top of the table.

The graphic below shows Tottenham lead the way for days missed by injured players, illustrating the issues faced by Thomas Frank, who had to cope with long-term absentees including Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.

Both West Ham and Brentford are in the bottom three for domestic injuries and days missed through those injuries, while Arsenal and Villa are in the top three for both.

Chelsea drop down the table when looking at days missed, showing they have predominately suffered from short absences spread throughout the squad.

It is worth pointing out that Newcastle's two longest absences this season - Emil Krafth (120 days) and Yoane Wissa (88 days), who had not yet even trained with his new side, resulted from injuries picked up on international duty and are not factored into the figures.

Image source, Getty Images

With Opta's supercomputer predictions suggesting it could be four teams fighting to avoid one relegation spot as we head into the final eight games of the season, we asked you who you think will be the one to go down (with Burnley and Wolves).

At the time of writing, Nottingham Forest - who Opta say have a 32% chance of finishing 18th - are the ones fans think are mostly likely to be in the Championship next season.

Here is a breakdown of the results so far:

• Leeds United - 8%

• Tottenham - 30%

• Nottingham Forest - 45%

• West Ham - 17%

Add your selection here

Molly Whitmore
Fan writer

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Who does not love a trip down to London? I do. Although not so much mid-afternoon on a Sunday. This felt like a fantastic opportunity for us to close the gap on Crystal Palace and pick up three points that some of the teams around us in the relegation fight failed to get. Fair play to West Ham for taking a point off Manchester City - although, if I am being honest, I would have preferred they did not.

It is difficult to sum up the feeling after this game because it is now the third match recently where it has been hard to judge our performance properly because of the standard of refereeing. The second yellow for Gabriel Gudmundsson was probably the softest second booking I can remember seeing in all my years watching football.

I often roll my eyes when people start saying Leeds are hated by officials, but you can understand why some fans think that way with decisions like that. It was an absolute joke.

Speaking of second bookings, both sides should probably have ended up with 10 men if the referee had been consistent with the Brennan Johnson incident. It was the same type of challenge - if not worse. It felt very similar to the standard of officiating we experienced at home against Sunderland.

It was also gutting to see Dominic Calvert-Lewin miss the penalty. That would have been the perfect way to go 1-0 up, especially with the other results going the way they were over the weekend. Being five points clear sounds a lot nicer than being three clear.

I keep getting asked whether I would rather stay up or go as far as possible in the FA Cup. After managing to get my ticket for the quarter-final against West Ham, I am honestly not sure what my answer is.

The excitement of the cup right now feels far more enjoyable than the way the Premier League has been going for us this season. We are turning up in league games against some of the very best teams, playing really well by our standards, and too often coming away with nothing to show for it because of decisions from the referee or the officials on the touchline.

One thing that does add a bit of intrigue is that one of Manchester City and Liverpool will knock the other out. Hopefully we turn up in London, put out our strongest side, and give it a real go.

I am already starting to plan my Wembley outfit.

Molly Whitmore is a regular contributor on BBC Radio Leeds - find all their audio here

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

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Leeds United should have been awarded a penalty in their 1-0 loss at home to Sunderland on 3 March, according to the Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel.

The game was goalless in the 16th minute when Daniel Farke's side were awarded a corner.

As the ball was delivered from the right, Sunderland's Luke O'Nien held back Pascal Struijk.

The KMI Panel unanimously voted that it was a mistake by referee Stuart Attwell and there should have been a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention from Paul Tierney.

It noted that O'Nien is "not looking at the ball, places his arms around the neck of Struijk in a clear non-footballing action and stops the Leeds United attacker from progressing towards goal".

After the game, Farke was furious that his side had not been awarded the spot-kick.

"It's not even a question," Farke said. "What was VAR doing?

"It's tough to understand how this is not checked. If the referee watched it back he would say all day long it's a penalty.

"It's more for VAR, it's difficult for the referee to see."

It is the first VAR error logged against Leeds this season.

Leeds went on to lose the game through a 70th-minute VAR penalty after Ethan Ampadu was penalised for handball inside the area.

This was also supported by a 5:0 vote.

The KMI Panel said: "Ampadu clearly knocks the ball away with his arm in a secondary motion and the VAR intervention was supported as correct."

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Radio Leeds reporter Adam Pope says referee, Thomas Bramall, "absolutely ruined" Leeds' game against Crystal Palace "with the cheapest yellow" card, which saw Gabriel Gudmundsson receive a red card.

On a weekend when the spotlight was on referees, Bramall possibly thought there would be no more controversy after Chelsea's starting XI surrounded Paul Tierney in their pre-match huddle against Newcastle.

However, as Tierney watched on from the fourth official position at Crystal Palace the following day, he would witness Bramall give Gudmundsson a second yellow, followed by a delayed red card.

Surely, Bramall had not forgotten about Gudmundsson's 26th-minute yellow card, which he picked up for fouling Brennan Johnson?

"I didn't think the referee was doing a bad job - he called the [Leeds] penalty in real time straight away," Pope told the Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast.

"Then he absolutely ruined it with the cheapest yellow card. Getting it so wrong to the point he had forgotten he had given a yellow already."

Similar to Pope's views, Kaiser Chiefs' bassist, Simon Rix, thinks Bramall had a "nightmare" officiating the 0-0 draw.

"When you have had such a bad day at the office - has he been to sleep yet?

"He tries to blag that he hasn't forgotten that he has given a yellow, but his face on the live telly..."

Gudmundsson's red card was Leeds' first sending off in the Premier League season, with Arsenal being the only side this season to not have a player sent off in the Premier League campaign.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Explore all Leeds United content on BBC Sounds

The Whites picked up an important point on the road at Crystal Palace despite having a man sent off in the first half.

On the latest episode of BBC Radio Leeds' Don't Go To Bed Just yet, Jonny Buchan, Adam Pope and Kaiser Chiefs' bassist Simon Rix reflect on the game and ask what the weekend's results do for the chances of survival.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Explore all Leeds United content on BBC Sounds

It is the business end of the season and the race to stay in the Premier League is getting more tense.

With Opta giving Burnley and Wolves just a 0.35% and 0.07% chance of survival respectively and Crystal Palace a 0.08% chance of going down, it looks like it is a fight between four teams to avoid the remaining relegation spot.

Just three points separate West Ham in 18th and Leeds in 15th, with only goal difference currently keeping the Hammers in the drop zone.

Opta's supercomputer has been running the scenarios and providing the percentage chance of Leeds, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and West Ham finishing in 18th place.

At 6.36%, Leeds are currently predicted to have the best chance of staying in the top flight in their first season back, while bottom-of-the-form-table Tottenham - who are just one point ahead Forest and West Ham - have been given a 13.03% likelihood of being in that third relegation spot come the end of the campaign.

Things look a bit more worrying for Vitor Pereira's Forest and Nuno Espirito Santo's West Ham with a 32.85% and 45% chance respectively.

As Spurs and Forest face each other in a crucial match this Sunday, the picture could yet look a whole lot different heading into the international break next week.

Do you agree with the supercomputer? Who do you think of those four teams is most likely to go down?

Make your choice here

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Crystal Palace and Leeds.

Here are some of your comments:

Crystal Palace fans

Dave: So poor going forward, Palace need to improve or could still get sucked into the relegation battle. Very lacklustre and slow moving the ball today. At times it looked like they had the ten men not Leeds. Need to do better.

Gary: Do we have to wait to the end of the season to rebuild? A manager and half the first team wanting out. Should we expect anything else than this dross?

Bob: I cannot believe that this is the club that won the FA Cup and Community Shield! I'm lost for words. There's no passion for victory, even playing against 10 men. Most of our best players have gone, including our captain, and others are leaving at the end of the season, including Glasner. I cannot wait for this season to finish and start afresh! The empty seats near the end of the game said it all.

Trevor: Poor performance from Palace. Glasner going through the motions - walking football at it's worst.

Leeds fans

Gerry: Leeds are basically donating catch-up points to their relegation rivals. Week after week we hear of missed opportunities despite "brave efforts". With West Ham and Spurs still to play, two defeats could see Leeds needing their "tremendous team spirit" to get themselves out of the Championship next season.

Dan: This is now a four horse race for survival and missing that penalty is a gut punch for us but, let's be honest, we never do well down in London so a point with 10 men has to be celebrated. We just have to get a couple more wins and we'll be safe.

Andy: Defensively sound, referee ruined the game with poor decisions, move on, a decent point under the circumstances.

Richard: The ref took two points off us today. Great team spirit to keep it 0-0, but even then I think we looked the most dangerous in the second half.

Emma Smith
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

"Edging closer" is the right phrase. Leeds have not won in five league matches but have drawn their past three.

With fellow strugglers West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham all earning draws this weekend, 15th-placed Leeds have maintained the three-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone.

To misquote the likely apocryphal words of England cricketer George Hirst against Australia in the 1902 Ashes, Leeds will "get it in singles".

Daniel Farke's side also have the kindest run-in on paper, with just one game against a top-six team - Manchester United on 13 April - and home games against the bottom two, Burnley and Wolves.

But there is the nagging feeling their three-point gap to the drop zone should have been five.

Since the start of the 2022-23 season, only Liverpool and Fulham have failed to convert more penalties than Leeds in the top flight - despite the Yorkshire side being in the Championship in two of those campaigns.

It denied Leeds their first away win since September, when they beat rock-bottom Wolves. The only two teams with worse records away from home are the bottom two.

And it was more frustration for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who overcame a late fitness test on a knee issue to play here and led the line with impressive physicality.

But after scoring twice against Palace in December - taking his personal tally to seven league goals versus the Eagles - he has scored only three times in 12 league games.

Farke, a former forward himself, was philosophical.

"I was happy with his overall performance, I was happy for him to take [the penalty]. Also, what he did in the second half, he was a crucial part today.

"Of course, you want to hit the target and he is disappointed. But this is football, even Harry Kane misses penalties.

"I was a striker - I missed more penalties than you can count."

Read more analysis of Leeds' draw with Crystal Palace here

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Crystal Palace 0-0 Leeds

• Manchester United 3-1 Aston Villa

• Nottingham Forest 0-0 Fulham

• Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham

Crystal Palace are set to rival Leeds for Derby's 25-year-old United States forward Patrick Agyemang. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Emma Smith
BBC Sport journalist

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Dominic Calvert-Lewin has seven Premier League goals to his name against Palace, including two earlier this season in a 4-1 win at Elland Road.

He has not scored more against any other team from the top flight, so it seemed like a huge boost for Leeds when the striker was passed fit to start at Selhurst Park.

In the build-up, Daniel Farke had said Leeds would make a late call on him because of a knee issue.

Calvert-Lewin caused plenty of issues for Palace through the first half, testing home goalkeeper Walter Benitez with a header and forcing Brennan Johnson into a last-gasp clearance - before his big penalty chance.

The miss defined the game, and combined with the red card it created a five-minute spell that was scarcely believable for Leeds.

It is to the credit of Farke's men that they did not buckle and were driven to a hard-earned point, with captain Ethan Ampadu particularly impressive in midfield.

But with Nottingham Forest dropping points against Fulham, this feels like a missed opportunity to open a real gap between Leeds and the drop zone.