Eddie Howe takes his side to West Yorkshire for this weekend's clash with Daniel Farke's newly-promoted Whites
Leeds United fans roared the team on in their win over Everton
Leeds United fans roared the team on in their win over Everton(Image: Anna Gowthorpe/Shutterstock)
Newcastle United know all about the benefits of home advantage. Just ask Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Man United, Spurs . . .
All came away from St James' Park without a win last season, with all but the first pair on the end of a bruising defeat. Any side with ambitions for success know that it can often be built on strong home form, with sides fearing a trip to Tyneside.
The same can be said for Leeds United, although Daniel Farke will be hoping their results at Elland Road can go a long way to keeping them in the Premier League this season.
The famous stadium has a fearsome reputation for one of the most electric atmospheres in English football when the home fans are on song and behind their side.
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Certainly Eddie Howe is under no illusions over what his side will face in West Yorkshire on Saturday evening. The United head coach said in the pre-match media briefing: "The start of the game is going to be very important for us. They have invested in a lot of good players. I love going to Elland Road, it is a stadium full of emotion, and we'll need to use that emotion this weekend."
Leeds got their new season off to a positive start with a 1-0 win over Everton on home soil, but were brought back to earth with a humbling 5-0 defeat at Arsenal last weekend.
Many observers have identified Leeds' Elland Road form as crucial for their survival this term, but talk of a fortress in Yorkshire may be exaggerated given their results in their last top-flight season.
Leeds only managed to win five of their 19 games at home in the 2022-23 campaign before being relegated to the Championship, conceding 37 goals in the process - more than any other side that season = at a rate of almost two per game.
Newcastle's record at Elland Road is impressive. While it may count for little this weekend, United have only lost once at Leeds this century, a 5-2 defeat in 2020, and have recorded only three defeats there since the Premier League began.
In fact, Newcastle have eight wins at the stadium in the Premier League era.
All of which doesn't make the task this weekend any easier. Leeds will be determined to bounce back from that Arsenal humbling, Newcastle will be missing Joelinton and Anthony Gordon, while Sandro Tonali is a doubt and Alexander Isak will again be absent.
But it does highlight that, as Howe says, if Newcastle can start positively and silence the home noise, then they have little to fear from Elland Road.