Leeds v Newcastle: Key stats and talking points

Leeds United host Newcastle United with both teams yet to suffer defeat in this season's Premier League. Leeds' unbeaten start continues the streak of resilience that was evident in the second half of 2025-26, notably after head coach Daniel Farke's much-heralded switch to a back three last winter. Farke's side have lost just one of their past 12 games in the league (W5, D6), a run stretching back to mid-March, and which only two other top-flight teams can match. After Saturday's draw at Brighton , where they had suffered an abject 3-0 defeat last season, Farke spoke of his side playing "with confidence" and being "much more settled now". The new signings have also bedded in well, in particular Tarik Muharemovic, who has had to fill the sizeable shoes of Pascal Struijk – the Bosnian has made 16 headed clearances so far, joint-top of the Premier League standings alongside Sunderland 's Dan Ballard. And he used his head at the other end of the pitch to score his first Leeds goal in the midweek Carabao Cup defeat by Chelsea . Elland Road is always a tough place to visit, and Leeds held Newcastle to a 0-0 draw there last season, in contrast to the seven-goal epic on Tyneside in the reverse fixture. In only three seasons previously have Leeds avoided defeat in each of their first four Premier League games, the most recent of which was in 2001-02, when they went on to finish in the top five for the fifth year in a row. A return to those heady days might not be imminent but a quarter of a century later, there is a sense that the optimism is back. [BBC] With a win and two draws, Newcastle have an identical Premier League record to Leeds this season, but they have scored – and conceded – twice as many goals. The Magpies have scored twice in all three of their Premier League games so far, despite having had just eight shots on target in total. Their four shots on target in the past two league matches have produced four goals. They are overperforming their xG (3.01) by three goals, which shows clinical finishing from the few opportunities they have had, but that is unlikely to be sustainable over the course of a season. Furthermore, while Newcastle might be making the most of their chances, their opponents are not. The Mapgies have faced a division-high 61 shots (an average of 20.3 a game) yet have conceded just four goals. [BBC]