Why Leeds United's four-year Premier League record runs deeper than first feared

Leeds United have a strange curse that they can't seem to break.

Daniel Farke's side have made a very impressive start to the 2026-27 Premier League season.

The Whites are unbeaten through their opening five games of the campaign, and sit fifth in the table heading into the break.

As a result, Daniel Farke has precious little to complain about right now, as the Elland Road faithful already begin to sing of Europe.

Many more battles are to be won if the passports are to be coming out next season, but this Whites side look up for the fight.

What they can't seem to do, however, is find a way to win when they're down for an early kick-off.

When was the last time Leeds won a pre-3pm kick-off in the Premier League?

Football is a sport whose fabric is woven with superstition, history and curses.

X team never wins at X stadium, X player always scores against X team; the beautiful game gets so much of its beauty through the stories and subplots it writes.

When it comes to Leeds, they have a uniquely tough time when it comes to picking up wins in the early kick-offs.

Detailed by Opta stats expert Jonny Cooper via X, Leeds are now on a 19-game winless run in the Premier League in games that kicked off before 3pm.

The last time the Whites won an early kick-off was in August 2022, in which they defeated Chelsea 3-0 at Elland Road with Brenden Aaronson amongst the goals that day.

If you go back further, you'll see that this isn't just a Premier League problem for Leeds.

That's because despite winning the Championship in 2024-25, the Whites still won just four of their 14 early kick-offs in that centurions season.

So, who are Leeds' next scheduled opponents for a pre-3pm game, and why is their quest to lift this curse not getting easier?

How many early kick-offs Leeds scheduled for in 2026-27

Sometimes, when it looks as unlikely for something to happen, that can prove to be exactly when it does.

Leeds will be hoping that's the case with their early kick-off curse, as their next two games after the international break are both pre-3pm starts.

Not only that, they involve travelling to the Emirates to take on the champions Arsenal, before welcoming Man United to Elland Road.

In addition to those two matches, the Whites are currently down to play one other early game away at Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

Of course, that's very likely to become more as/when the broadcasters make their television choices.

The positive to take from this is that whether it's against Arsenal or Man United, both would be some way to snap the curse for Leeds.