Kyle Newbould: I watched Leeds United's 0-0 draw vs Crystal Palace - One thing will give them huge confidence

Leeds United extended their unbeaten Premier League run for a fifth game following Sunday’s 0-0 draw at home to Crystal Palace. The away side saw a second-half Tyrick Mitchell goal ruled out for an offside in the build-up while the Whites’ best chance fell to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Daniel Farke’s side went into Sunday off the back of an electric 4-1 win over Newcastle but couldn’t find the same attacking quality against Palace. Instead it was Tarik Muharemovic who was forced into some last-ditch defending either side of the break. Mitchell looked to have put his side ahead on 52 minutes but Anan Khalaili’s shirt sleeve was offside.

Leeds tried mixing things up and introducing substitutes but couldn’t find the final third quality, with Palace once again enjoying the better late chances but no one converting. Here are the YEP’s key takeaways.

Settled Leeds United team

There weren’t any surprises when the starting line-up was confirmed at 12.45pm with Farke naming an unchanged side for the third Premier League game running. Nico Elvedi was preferred to Jaka Bijol at central centre-back, Ao Tanaka retained his place in a midfield three and Noah Okafor was given the freedom to drift wide and work around Calvert-Lewin.

The absences of Joe Rodon and more recently Harry Wilson reduced the variety available to Farke but his best starting line-up feels very settled at the minute. And yet there is enough on the bench for the shape and tactics to be altered multiple times during the game - as happened on Sunday.

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Farke switched to a back four and then reverted to a back three during the second-half in a bid to disrupt Palace’s stubborn shape. And while it didn’t lead to goals, it strengthened the belief this version of Leeds are not a one trick pony.

Fine margins

After such a dominant win over Newcastle on Monday there was an expectation of Leeds to build on that and bulldoze their way to three more points. Palace had lost three of their previous four Premier League matches but as Farke mentioned in his pre-game press conference, most were decided on fine margins.

Those fine margins are going to decide a lot of Leeds games this season, as is normal in the Premier League, and they were perhaps on the right side when a VAR review adjudged Khalaili to have been millimetres offside in the build-up to Mitchell’s disallowed finish. That moment woke Farke’s side up and they were then denied an opener by fine margins.

Had Calvert-Lewin’s header from a Justin cross been an inch or two either side of goalkeeper Walter Benitez, Leeds could have taken another massive three points. Three-goal winning margins are not going to become commonplace at Elland Road this season, many games will be much tighter and could easily swing either way. That is the nature of this league.

Clean sheet confidence

While fine margins kept it in place, Farke will at least be proud of his side for keeping an important clean sheet against a Palace side who asked plenty of questions. According to FotMob, and with the disallowed goal not included for obvious reasons, Pierre Sage’s side created an Expected Goals total of 0.74 from their 12 shots, highlighting a lack of clear-cut chances.

That was Leeds’ first Premier League clean sheet since the opening weekend at Nottingham Forest, which will be particularly pleasing a few days after such a soft late concession against Newcastle. Muharemovic was to thank for a couple of brilliant late tackles while Trafford kept out anything that came his way including a potentially dangerous Yeremy Pino free-kick.

Leeds weren’t at their free-flowing best in the final third but are not always going to be. The important thing when those issues arise is that goals conceded are kept to a minimum, and a clean sheet guarantees them an important point whatever the frustrations going forward.