Marcelo Bielsa will go toe-to-toe with the oldest Premier League manager Roy Hodgson on Monday evening, however the veteran coach will be without his instrumental key player Wilfried Zaha.
The 28-year-old Ivorian has been ruled out with a hamstring injury and is a certainty not to feature.
That does not mean Palace will be without plenty of attacking options having just signed Jean-Philippe Mateta from Mainz 05 in Germany, but it does mean they will be without their best one.
Zaha has scored nine goals in 19 games for the Eagles this season, and their record without him is a torrid one.
On each of the three occasions this campaign in which Zaha has been missing, Palace have lost.
Without their talisman, Palace have fallen to defeat 1-0 against Burnley, 2-0 to Newcastle and 4-0 to Manchester City in the Premier League this season, which should certainly be of some encouragement to Leeds.
Stretching back to the beginning of 2018/19, Zaha has missed just seven Premier League fixtures, with Palace losing five.
It hands Leeds United a golden opportunity to rectify their defeat to Hodgson's men earlier in the season, where they went down 4-1 at Selhurst Park.
By all accounts, the scoreline on that November day flattered Palace, with a freak own goal and perfect free-kick contributing to their four-goal tally.
On Zaha's fitness, Hodgson confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the forward would not be involved.
"No, I'm afraid it's a hamstring injury. We don't know how long it will keep him out, but certainly this weekend and possibly much longer.
"It would be totally unrealistic to expect him to take part this weekend."
In Bielsa's own meeting with the media, he had good and bad news on the injury front.
Gaetano Berardi is set to return to first-team training next week, with a view to being integrated into the U23s setup to gain valuable minutes following his recovery from a cruciate ligament injury.
However, Palace will not be going up against Spanish international Rodrigo Moreno or Ian Poveda on Monday.
Bielsa confirmed it would be 'weeks not days' before the pair were able to return to first-team action after they sustained injuries to the groin and ankle respectively, in games against Leicester City and Sunderland U23s.
