Leeds v Man United: Preview, expected line ups, stats and where to watch

Premier League, Round 7

Leeds LEE

18/10/2026 14:00

Manchester United MUN

Elland Road

Darren England

Leeds v Manchester United Premier League preview

Leeds United are targeting a first win in three league matches and a riposte to their painful defeat at Arsenal when Manchester United visit Elland Road for the latest episode in an evocative rivalry on Sunday.

James Justin gave Daniel Farke’s side a second-half lead at the reigning champions last Saturday, only for the Gunners to score twice inside nine minutes as Leeds suffered their first top-flight defeat of a promising start to the campaign.

“It’s still early days [after] only six games,” reflected Farke, namechecking Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion as two fellow teams who have “done really good work” and been rewarded with impressive results.

“After 36, it’s a bit more important. We’re not too far away from the glory days, but let’s focus on the here and now.”

Michael Carrick’s side are three points behind Leeds but their start has seemed starkly different, winning once in the league and suffering a 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday that was compounded by defender Lisandro Martinez’s scathing post-match remarks about the club’s spending.

After a five-game winless run in all competitions, Carrick is under pressure but expects a “fantastic game”. “There’s a great rivalry and there’s a big history between the football clubs and the areas,” said the head coach, via United’s website.

“That’s what makes these type of games special. You have to embrace the history and what it means. You’ve got to embrace the past.

“Certain games are different and that’s what makes them special and gets you attached to them. This is certainly one of them.”

Full updated Premier League table

Premier League 2026

England

#	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Last 5
1	Manchester City	6	6	0	0	16	5	11	18	W W W W W
2	Arsenal	6	5	0	1	10	5	5	15	W L W W W
3	Brighton	6	4	1	1	18	5	13	13	W W W D L
4	Brentford	6	2	4	0	12	6	6	10	D W D D D
5	Everton	6	2	4	0	8	5	3	10	D W D D D
6	Chelsea	6	3	1	2	15	13	2	10	W L D L W
7	Leeds	6	2	3	1	8	5	3	9	L D W D D
8	Hull City	6	2	3	1	8	6	2	9	D L D D W
9	Liverpool	6	2	3	1	7	7	0	9	L W D W D
10	Ipswich	6	3	0	3	9	12	-3	9	W L W L L
11	Newcastle	6	2	2	2	10	13	-3	8	L W L D W
12	Crystal Palace	6	2	1	3	9	12	-3	7	W D L W L
13	Manchester United	6	1	3	2	9	9	0	6	D D L D W
14	Coventry	6	2	0	4	5	11	-6	6	W W L L L
15	Nottingham Forest	6	1	2	3	5	8	-3	5	L L W D D
16	Aston Villa	6	1	2	3	6	11	-5	5	D W L D L
17	Sunderland	6	1	1	4	6	12	-6	4	L L L D W
18	Bournemouth	6	0	3	3	7	13	-6	3	L L D D D
19	Tottenham	6	0	3	3	3	9	-6	3	D L D D L
20	Fulham	6	0	2	4	6	10	-4	2	L D D L L

• Position 1, 2, 3, 4 : Promotion – Champions League (League phase)
• Position 5 : Promotion – Europa League (League phase)
• Position 18, 19, 20 : Relegation – Championship

Leeds v Man United Premier League team news

Carrick suggested Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo could return from knocks but said Benjamin Sesko is “further away” from returning from a shin injury.

Martinez is part of the squad. Tom Heaton (abdominal), Noussair Mazraoui (back) and Patrick Dorgu (hamstring) are out, as is Manuel Ugarte with a long-term knee injury.

Daniel James could return from a back issue for Leeds but Mateo Joseph has a long-term knee injury and Joe Rodon (hamstring) is sidelined.

“He is edging closer,” Farke said of Rodon, who expects the defender to be back in action in between one and three weeks.

Leeds v Manchester United predicted line ups

Manchester United: Senne Lammens, Leny Yoro, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot, Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos, Amad Diallo, Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo

Leeds United: James Trafford, James Justin, Nico Elvedi, Tarik Muharemovic, Jayden Bogle, Anton Stach, Ethan Ampadu, Ao Tanaka, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Noah Okafor

Leeds v Manchester United stats, Premier League form

• Leeds ended a run of 10 winless Premier League games against United with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford in April and could earn consecutive league wins in the fixture for the first time since the 1971/72 season
• They are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League home games (W4 D3), last having a longer unbeaten run at Elland Road between January and December 2001 (15 games)
• For the first time since September 2002 (excluding Matchday 1), Leeds enter this fixture ahead of United in the Premier League table
• On that occasion, they won 1-0 at Elland Road – and a win this time would put them six points clear of United in the table as late as the seventh game of a season for the second time, having been seven points ahead in December 2001 after playing 15 games
• Since beating Chelsea 3-0 at home in August 2022 in a kick-off on a Sunday at 14:00 BST, Leeds have gone 20 Premier League games without a win in matches kicking off before 15:00 (D7 L13) – the longest ever such run by a side in Premier League history
• In all competitions, United are unbeaten in their last seven games at Leeds (W5 D2) since that defeat in September 2002
• United’s tally of six points (W1 D3 L2) is their lowest after six league games since 1986/87 under Ron Atkinson (4)
• For a second consecutive season, the Red Devils have no clean sheets in their first six games, with this the first time that has happened in back-to-back campaigns since 1930/31 and 1931/32
• They have had the most attempts (125) and touches in the opposition box (205) of any side in the Premier League this season
• That is the most attempts in a team’s first six games since Liverpool had 141 in 2021/22. Each of the last four teams to have as many as 125 shots at this stage of a season all ended the season in the top two

Where to watch Leeds v Man United: TV channel, live online streams

Kick-off on Sunday is at 14:00 BST (09:00 ET / 06:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra.

Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £27.99 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.

Here’s the full list of Premier League international broadcasters.

Leeds v Manchester United prediction

Match Prediction

Leeds

2 – 0

Manchester United

Leeds' impressive home run bodes well against a United side who travelled to Europe four days earlier, are out of form and have faced extra turmoil thanks to Martinez's show of discontent.