Double Crystal Palace injury boost confirmed as Jorgen Strand Larsen sends Leeds United warning
Leeds United welcome Crystal Palace to Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.
Leeds United’s weekend opponents Crystal Palace have received a double injury boost just in time for their trip to Elland Road.
Palace make the trip up to West Yorkshire on Sunday looking to arrest a concerning start to their Premier League campaign. Under new manager Pierre Sage the Eagles have lost three of their four fixtures, last week losing 3-2 at home to Ipswich Town.
A big early issue for Palace has been the absence of key players including talismanic winger Ismaila Sarr. The Senegal international had been out of action all season with a groin injury but in a big boost ahead of Sunday, returned off the bench in midweek.
Palace kicked off their Europa League campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win over Polish outfit Lech Poznan on Thursday, with Sarr getting 17 minutes off the bench. His side were 3-0 up at the time and scored a fourth late on.
In another boost for Sunday’s Elland Road opponents, Eddie Nketiah also returned from a brief spell out off the bench to score Palace’s fourth. The former on-loan Leeds striker missed two games last week due to injury but now joins Sarr in being available.
It remains to be seen if either will be fit enough to make a serious contribution in a more physically demanding environment. The pair have just two full days to recover and for Sarr in particular, had been out for a long time.
Palace are still expected to be without first-choice goalkeeper Dean Henderson due to injury, while Jean-Philippe Mateta remains sidelined until after the international break. In his place upfront is January Leeds target Jorgen Strand Larsen.
The Norwegian smacked home a 34th-minute penalty on Thursday to make it 3-0 on the night. And speaking after, Strand Larsen suggested his side left plenty in the tank for Sunday’s trip to Leeds after earning a comfortable first-half lead.
"When you miss two [penalties] in a row you have to smack it in,” he told TNT Sports after full-time. “It was a risky one, it was going a bit higher than I expected.
“I enjoyed it. When it works it works really well. We could have won this game by more. We had Sunday's game in the back of our minds."