Sage admits that Palace need points in the league ahead of Leeds trip

Despite their positive results in the Carabao Cup against Middlesbrough and the Europa League against Lech Poznan, Crystal Palace’s start to the league season had been poor, with just three points from four games.

The Frenchman admitted that although Palace have shown some good signs in the Premier League, they needed to start getting points on the board.

“You know, it's always good to win in cups, different cups, but the Premier League is our daily job, and we are late in this one because I think we deserve better against Everton and better maybe against Ipswich. We have a lot of things to manage better in our way of playing. Now we need points.

Interestingly, the Eagles' last away win outside of London came on February 8th against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Leeds United have only lost three league games at Elland Road in 2026 so far, those being the current champions Arsenal, last season’s runners-up Manchester City, and Sunderland.

Sage knew the task ahead for his side but challenged his side to improve on last week’s defeat against Ipswich.

“I know that Leeds are a really good team. I saw them at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, and I saw the game against Newcastle too. They are really, really good, and we have to recover, to be fit and in shape to play against them and, why not, do what we didn't do against Ipswich.”

The trip to Leeds is the final Premier League fixture before the extended international break which goes between September 21st and October 6th.

When asked about the long hiatus from club football and the effect it would have on momentum, Sage admitted it wasn’t something that he was pleased with but felt a win was the best way to head into the break.

“I'm not happy because I wanted to continue to work with the players. But for some of them, it's always good to come back to their country and play in another context.

“The best way to leave the team on Sunday evening is to have good things in their heads, and for that we need to win in Leeds.”

“We know that we can let the players recover, and after that we have time to come back to the pitch and come back to our level of performance.

“We have a lot of players in national teams, and the young players from the academy are in national teams too. That's why we have to build a team to play maybe one friendly game in the second week and prepare our game against Nottingham [Forest].”