Can Leeds move closer to 40 points against 'unimpressive' Palace?
- Published
"You've got to wait until at least 10 games into a season to talk about that stuff," said Kaiser Chiefs bassist Simon Rix when quizzed about Leeds United's chances of qualifying for European football this season.
Daniel Farke's side are yet to lose a Premier League game in 2026-27, picking up eight points from their opening four games of the season.
Defender James Justin has also highlighted "the aspiration is to get to 40 points first and foremost" in their second campaign since Championship promotion.
"Everyone is talking about Leeds United at the minute," Rix said on BBC Radio Leeds' Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast. "Everyone is definitely talking about us in relation to European football and stuff, but it is still early days.
"You've got to wait until at least 10 games into a season to talk about that stuff. At that point, we can see where we are in the table.
"Given the way we have started this season, it would be ace if we could get ourselves 20 points adrift of the bottom three. At that point, we could say: 'Right, we haven't reached 40 points yet, but it is very unlikely we are going to get drawn into a relegation battle.' And then the players can relax.
"We know we play even better when we relax. When we had already been promoted from the Championship, both under Marcelo Bielsa and Daniel Farke, we just ran away with the title. When we knew we were safeish last season, the players started to express themselves a bit more."
On taking on Crystal Palace before the three-week international break, Rix said: "They have scored six goals but conceded 11 goals so far this season, which will actually be quite good for us.
"We can score when we are given chances and we can keep it pretty tight at the back. We have only conceded three goals in the Premier League so far this season as well, which is pretty good.
"Crystal Palace have already lost to Ipswich and Everton, and they have only beaten Fulham, which isn't particularly impressive."
