(Credit: Imago)

Richie Mills

Sat 25 April 2026 22:10, UK

Leeds United still have a tendency to ship late goals, something they will need to be on top of against Chelsea.

After Leeds were pegged back late on by Aston Villa in a 1-1 draw at Villa Park on 21 February, an all too familiar story was playing out for Daniel Farke‘s side.

Tammy Abraham’s equaliser two minutes from time was the 12th Premier League goal Leeds had conceded from the 86th minute onwards this season.

No other top-flight team had matched them with that unwanted statistic, something Farke tried to downplay.

Leeds have improved this glaring weakness of their game on the whole but it has not exactly gone away for the Yorkshire outfit ahead of their FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea.

Leeds’ late goals problem

Following the Villa game, BBC Sport pointed out that Leeds would have been ninth in the table if games had finished after 85 minutes.

That led to them dropping a league-high nine points at the death as they hovered above the relegation zone. This month, Leeds conceded twice in second half stoppage-time in their FA Cup quarter-final win over West Ham, in addition to Rayan’s late strike for Bournemouth in a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

To concede three goals in the game’s dying embers in the space of two months is not bad going from Leeds.

But, they have had one day less to prepare than Chelsea for this cup tie and the vast Wembley pitch often takes its toll on players.

Therefore, Farke will need to be smart with his substitutions and manage his players for this enticing last four encounter.

Conversely, they did score a last-gasp equaliser from Sean Longstaff against Bournemouth, so they can dish out late pain as well.

Leeds may need to dig very deep if they want to reach their first FA Cup final since 1973 on Sunday against struggling Chelsea.

Leeds face nervy wait on trio

Following the Bournemouth draw, Farke revealed that Leeds star Ilia Gruev is out for the season with a meniscus injury.

The 25-year-old has proven his worth for Leeds this season, and his loss is a blow for Farke in terms of his midfield options.

In addition, there is no guarantee Anton Stach will be fit after an ankle injury, although the Whites have got on very well without him in recent weeks.

There are also question marks over Jayden Bogle and Sebastiaan Bornauw, after the former went off with a foot issue at Bournemouth and the latter rolled his ankle in the warm-up.

Lucas Perri has been Leeds’ FA Cup keeper of late but Karl Darlow’s form has given Farke a selection headache.

While selections are important, a good performance is a must from Leeds, something they have struggled to do at Wembley over the years.