LIVE : Man City vs Leeds United

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Welcome to Al Jazeera’s live coverage of Manchester City vs Leeds United in the Premier League.

Manchester City look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League — the defending champions are one point clear of Arsenal with a game in hand.
Leeds, currently 17th in the league table and only out of the relegation zone on goal difference, play their first match under newly-appointed manager Sam Allardyce.
City have won their last nine Premier League matches, and record-breaking striker Erling Haaland has scored 17 goals in his last 10 appearances for the club.
Leeds conceded 23 goals in seven games in April, the most by a Premier League club in a single month.

A busy day in the Premier League
Bournemouth vs Chelsea (14:00 GMT)

Manchester City vs Leeds (14:00 GMT)

Tottenham vs Crystal Palace (14:00 GMT)

Wolves vs Aston Villa (14:00 GMT)

Liverpool vs Brentford (16:30 GMT)

Head-to-head

This is the 100th league match between the two clubs: Manchester City have won 43, Leeds have won 38, and 18 were draws.

City have beaten Leeds during their last three encounters, including a 3-1 victory this season at Elland Road.

Leeds lost this fixture 7-0 last season and are seeking to avoid successive away defeats to City for the first time since 1992.

Leeds last beat City in April 2021 — a 2-1 win at the Etihad.

Guardiola wary of threat Leeds pose under Allardyce

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Leeds United will be dangerous opponents under Allardyce given the injection of motivation change often brings.

“Always the impact of your manager on the players in the first one or two games … of course every team is playing for important things but for Leeds to stay [up], the impact is huge,” Guardiola said on Friday.

“I don’t know the system he is going to play, we don’t have any info, we can imagine what he is trying to do with us. And again, it is a massive, massive important game for us.”

‘Frail’ Leeds defence must be at its best, Allardyce says

Leeds United will have to produce their best defensive performance of the season if they hope to take points off Manchester City as they bid to retain their Premier League status, Allardyce has said.

Leeds have the worst defence in the top flight, with 67 goals conceded in 34 games.

“We hope we can find a space or two to cause them some problems,” Allardyce said.

“We can’t afford to miss any chances, we have to be ruthless and clinical and defensively the team will have to be the best it’s been this season. Obviously, the defence has been a bit frail, but we will try to put this right.”

Asked about the problem areas he needs to address, Allardyce said: “In possession I’ve always seen them to be very good, but out of possession recently has been, as everybody can see by the goals they’ve conceded, something that needed most of the work on.”

Allardyce added that he and his backroom staff had attempted to lighten the mood at Leeds.

“It’s been a bit doom and gloom and we have to try to lift that,” Allardyce said.

Allardyce has work cut out to save Leeds from relegation

Leeds have been in freefall for weeks and, languishing in 17th place on 30 points and only outside the relegation zone on goal difference, have turned to the experienced Sam Allardyce in the hope he can produce another of his miracle escape acts.

Allardyce certainly sounds ready for the challenge, saying confidently on Wednesday that he is “up there” in managerial talent with anyone in the Premier League, including Guardiola, Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp, and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta.

“Far too many people think I’m old and antiquated which is so far from the truth,” said Allardyce, who has replaced the sacked Javi Garcia for the final four games of the season.

“I may be 68 and look old but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep, not Klopp, not Arteta. It’s all there with me.”

However, Allardyce’s last coaching role was at West Brom in 2020-21, when he failed to keep the team in the Premier League.

Welcome to our live blog

Thanks for joining our coverage of the Premier League clash between Manchester City and Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City will be looking to extend their one-point lead at the top of the Premier League, while 17th-placed Leeds United will be hoping for an upset in their desperate battle to avoid relegation.

The match is set to start at 3pm local time (14:00 GMT).

Follow us here for all the latest news and updates before, during and after the game.