Leeds United and Bournemouth will be eager to continue their positive starts to the 2025/26 season when they face off at Elland Road on Saturday.
The 2025/26 Premier League season resumes this weekend with Gameweek 6. The latest round of fixtures begins with the match between Brentford and Manchester United at the Gtech Community Stadium before continuing with four simultaneous games, including Leeds United vs Bournemouth at Elland Road.
Leeds United may have endured a topsy-turvy ride in the first month of the 2025/26 season, but being four points outside the relegation zone is a significant positive. Additionally, the Whites are ahead of Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest, teams competing in Europe this season, while being level on points with Manchester City and Manchester United.
Daniel Farke will now hope his men can build momentum and remain clear of the drop zone in the coming weeks. On the other hand, few would have predicted Bournemouth to be in the top four of the Premier League table after losing almost the entire backline that helped them finish ninth last season.
However, Andoni Iraola has proven yet again that he is a phenomenal coach, enabling his men to play as more than the sum of their parts. The Cherries are fourth in the Premier League standings after embarking on a four-game winning run in the top flight following a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool in Gameweek 1. Iraola will now aim to continue building momentum and guide his team to European football next term.
The most recent Premier League clash featuring these teams saw Leeds United come from two goals down to beat Bournemouth 4-3, with Crysencio Summerville scoring a late winner. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between these two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Leeds United
Daniel Farke has received positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Leeds United manager may be bereft of the services of only two first-team players vs Bournemouth on Saturday.
Lucas Perri (hamstring) and Wilfried Gnonto (calf) are the only absentees, with the duo expected to return next month. Meanwhile, Farke has been sweating over the fitness of Jayden Bogle (toe) and Daniel James (abdominal). However, the duo should be fit and available to take on Bournemouth this weekend.
Karl Darlow will continue to deputise for Lucas Perri between the sticks, with Leeds United lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Bournemouth on Saturday. The backline will feature James Justin, Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk, and Gabriel Gudmundsson.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Anton Stach, Ethan Ampadu, and Sean Longstaff, with the trio providing steel and forward thrust from the middle of the park. Finally, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will lead the line for Leeds United against Bournemouth, with Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson completing the numbers in the offensive third.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Darlow; Justin, Rodon, Struijk, Gudmundsson; Stach, Ampadu, Longstaff; Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor
Bournemouth
Like his counterpart in the Leeds United dugout, Andoni Iraola has no new issues to worry about ahead of the trip to Elland Road. The Bournemouth manager will be without only three first-team players on Saturday.
Lewis Cook is closing in on returning from a shoulder injury and will face a late fitness test to determine his availability. However, the English midfielder will unlikely be fit enough to start against Leeds United. Meanwhile, Adam Smith (hamstring) and Enes Unal (knee) are long-term absentees for the away side.
Djordje Petrovic is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Bournemouth lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Leeds United on Saturday. The backline should feature Alex Jimenez, Bafode Diakite, Marcos Senesi, and Adrien Truffert.
As for the midfield unit, Alex Scott will line up alongside former Leeds United skipper Tyler Adams in the double pivot. Justin Kluivert will reprise the no. 10 role, with Antoine Semenyo and David Brooks being the two wide attackers. Finally, Evanilson will spearhead the Bournemouth attack against Leeds United on Saturday.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Jimenez, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert; Adams, Scott; Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo; Evanilson
Key Stats
Leeds United have won all seven home league games vs Bournemouth, scoring 18 goals in this run. It is the most they have faced a side on home soil with a 100 per cent win rate in their league history.
After three goalless Premier League games, Leeds United beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 in Gameweek 5. The Whites most recently netted three or more goals in successive top-flight matches in November 2022, one of which was at home against Bournemouth (won 4-3); the other saw them lose 4-3 away at Tottenham Hotspur.
Bournemouth have made their joint-best start to a Premier League campaign after five games (10 points – W3 D1 L1), along with the 10 points they picked up in 2018/19. It is the first time the Cherries will go into a Premier League game as high as fourth when they have played more than two games in a campaign.
Leeds United have yet to concede a goal at Elland Road in the Premier League this season. The only two newly promoted clubs to keep a clean sheet in their first three games of a season were Swansea City in 2011/12 and Watford in 2015/16.
No player has made more line-breaking passes that have broken the defensive line in the Premier League this season than Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi (9), while 18.7 per cent of his overall passes have been line-breaking, the second-highest rate among players with 200+ passes.
Player to Watch
Noah Okafor
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While Anton Stach, Antoine Semenyo, and former Leeds United star Tyler Adams were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Noah Okafor as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Leeds United and Bournemouth at Elland Road.
The Swiss international has been impressive since joining Leeds United from AC Milan, even though he has only one goal in three Premier League outings thus far. However, Okafor made 14 dribbles in the 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, the most by a player in a Premier League game thus far this season and most by a Leeds United player in a top-flight match on record.
So, with the former AC Milan outcast showing positive signs in his early days at Leeds United, he will hope to quickly become the go-to player in the final third for Daniel Farke, like midfield linchpin and fellow summer arrival Anton Stach.
Prediction
Leeds United 0-1 Bournemouth
The match features two teams with overall impressive defensive records despite rare outliers this term. Only Newcastle United (37) have faced fewer shots in the Premier League thus far in the 2025/26 season than Bournemouth (40). Since facing 19 shots against Liverpool, the Cherries have not allowed their opponents more than six attempts in the four subsequent games.
The last team to go five successive matches without facing more than six shots was Chelsea in October and November 2021. On the other hand, the hosts are yet to concede a goal at Elland Road thus far in the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Additionally, Leeds United’s home record in 2025 is sensational. The Whites are unbeaten in 22 home league games (W18 D4), keeping a clean sheet in 15 of those outings and conceding only eight goals. The Whites have kept a clean sheet in their four most recent ties at Elland Road, last having a longer run in December and January in 2016/17 under Garry Monk (six in a row).
However, the home side’s unbeaten run at Elland Road will end on Saturday, with Bournemouth’s impressive streak continuing. While the two goalkeepers may not be too busy this weekend, the away team will have enough quality to eke out a narrow victory. The Hard Tackle predicts a 1-0 win for Andoni Iraola and his charges.