Leeds travel to resurgent Fulham on Friday hoping to end a worrying run of form in London under head coach Marcelo Bielsa.
The Argentinian has won plenty of plaudits due to the Whites’ high-energy attacking style of play since promotion to the Premier League, with the West Yorkshire outfit currently sat in 12th place.
However, their Achilles heel appears to be when they head to the capital with Bielsa yet to taste victory in any of his 15 matches since arriving at the club in June 2018.
This run comprises 13 defeats, including two FA Cup third-round losses, and only two draws under Bielsa, with Leeds scoring only nine goals in the process and conceding 30 – a rate of two per game.
Fulham will be buoyed by the statistics as victory will see the Cottagers climb out of the relegation zone and above Newcastle, who face fellow strugglers Brighton on Saturday evening.
QPR have profited the most with three wins from three, while Arsenal have also won on both occasions they have faced Leeds – something Fulham hope to emulate at Craven Cottage.
Bielsa’s first game in London saw Jack Harrison score an 89th-minute equaliser after Millwall’s Jed Wallace had broken the deadlock in the second half of their clash at the Den in September 2018.
A 2-1 FA Cup third-round defeat followed at QPR in January 2019 before the same opponents ran out 1-0 winners a month later, with Brentford winning 2-0 in April to round off the 2018-19 campaign.
Leeds’ Sky Bet Championship-winning season did not fare much better in the capital, starting with a 1-0 defeat at newly-promoted Charlton in September 2019 followed by 2-1 losses at Millwall and Fulham in October and December respectively later that year.
Arsenal edged out the impressive Whites in a 1-0 win during their successful FA Cup campaign in January 2020 and QPR secured their third-successive home victory by the same scoreline later in the month.
Leeds ended a run of eight straight defeats with a 1-1 draw at Brentford in February 2020, with Liam Cooper salvaging a point after Said Benrahma opened the scoring for the Bees.
Promotion to the top flight did not change their fortunes as they fell to a 4-1 defeat at Crystal Palace last November and a 3-1 loss to Chelsea in December.
The Whites started 2021 with a 3-0 reverse at Tottenham and more north London misery followed in February with a 4-2 defeat at Arsenal – the only time they have scored more than once in the run.
First-half goals from Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson secured West Ham a 2-0 win at the London Stadium earlier this month to make it 15 games in a row without a victory, but can Leeds finally end their London hoodoo on Friday?
