Fulham boss Marco Silva is unsurprised by Dominic Calvert-Lewin's resurgence in front of goal as he prepares to be reunited with the Leeds United striker on Saturday. 

Calvert-Lewin's purple patch in front of goal has helped steer Leeds eight points clear of the relegation zone, with the striker scoring nine goals in 19 Premier League outings. 

Indeed, his total is only bettered by Antoine Semenyo (10), Igor Thiago (16) and Erling Haaland (20), but his potential was something Silva saw first-hand earlier in his managerial career.

During his time at Everton, Calvert-Lewin appeared 54 times in all competitions under Silva, netting 13 goals, with only Gylfi Sigurdsson (16) and Richarlison (21) scoring more for the Toffees in that time.

"It's not the first time he's performed at this level," said Silva. "When you talk about performing, he’s a striker who can score in many different ways.

"When you look through his career, when he's playing, the numbers are there. Game by game, he's getting better and showing he's a proven Premier League striker."

Silva has only ever managed at Elland Road once in his managerial career, overseeing a 3-2 victory with Fulham during the 2022-23 campaign. 

However, the Fulham boss is aware of the difficulties that await his side, with Leeds going unbeaten on home turf since losing to Aston Villa on November 23. 

"It is never easy to play there," added Silva. "They have been very strong at home, achieving results away from home as well.

"They have the quality, the organisation, the manager, and the individual players.

"To play at Elland Road, we all know what it means. The home support is unbelievable, and they make it hard for the opposition.

"We played against them earlier this season [a 1-0 win at Craven Cottage] and it was a difficult game for us."

Leeds, meanwhile, will be looking to build on their 3-1 win over Derby County in the FA Cup third round as they continue to pull further clear of trouble.

They also added to their ranks on Thursday, with Facundo Buonanotte joining the club on loan from Brighton for the rest of the season. 

But when asked about the potential of more arrivals, Leeds boss Daniel Farke insisted that incomings would only be considered if they did not disrupt the spirit of the squad. 

"We spoke in the summer very openly about what we wanted to do," Farke told reporters.

"We wanted to do more in the offence, in a creative number 10 or winger position, and then on the last day we missed out.

"Nevertheless, we have developed really well as a group, and we're on a good path.

"We've progressed into the next round of the FA Cup, at Premier League level, we're on a good path. We have a good, capable group that we trust.

"We could do something if we thought, 'Okay, this player would improve our squad, he's a character who fits into this group'. We won't risk anything that will risk our spirit."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Leeds – Dominic Calvert-Lewin

After netting just once in his first 10 Premier League appearances for Leeds United, Calvert-Lewin has since found his form in front of goal. 

He has netted eight goals in nine matches. His next goal will see him reach double figures in a top-flight campaign for only the third time after 2020-21 (16) and 2019-20 (13).

Fulham – Harry Wilson

Wilson's winner against Chelsea took his tally to 11 for Premier League goal involvements this season (seven goals, four assists), his best return in a single campaign.

Indeed, 10 of those have come since the start of November (six goals, four assists). Only Haaland (12) and Thiago (11) have more in that time.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Fulham have won each of their last three league games against Leeds, their longest-ever winning run against them, and they will be confident of extending that here. 

That is because the Cottagers are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League games against promoted sides (W7 D5), winning each of the last five in a row. Victory here would see them win as many as four games against promoted teams in a single Premier League campaign for the first time since 2004-05.

In addition, only Liverpool and Manchester City (both nine) are on longer ongoing unbeaten runs in the Premier League than Fulham (six – W4 D2), with only Arsenal (16) collecting more points in the competition from the start of that run (13th December) than Silva's side have (14).

Fulham have also scored in each of their last 10 Premier League games (18 in total), only enjoying longer runs in the competition in December 2024 (15 games) and September 2007 (11 games). Indeed, in that time, they've opened the scoring in seven of those games (W6 D1).

Leeds, meanwhile, lost their last league game to Newcastle, though at Elland Road they're unbeaten in four matches (W2 D2). They last enjoyed a longer run in the same top-flight season in December 2021 under Marcelo Bielsa (W2 D3).

However, they did lose their last home league game against Fulham in October 2022 – they've never lost consecutive home league matches against the Cottagers, though. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Leeds – 36.9%

Draw – 26.3%

Fulham – 36.8%