The Whites came from behind to beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 on Tuesday (4 April), and will now host Roy Hodgson’s Eagles at Elland Road on Sunday (9 April).
The previous result moved the club up to 13th in the table, just two points above the bottom three, but Stelling believes another three points at the weekend will propel Leeds United to the top of the nine-team battle to avoid relegation.
In his Super6 predictions for Sky Sports, the long-time host predicted a 2-0 win for the home team.
After the manner of the win over Forest, there must be a lot of confidence going into this one, but Palace is still a step up as the only team in the relegation battle currently above Leeds.
Hodgson’s surprise return paid immediate dividends with a win over Leicester on Saturday (1 April), so this is likely to be more of a test than if Patrick Vieira’s rapidly sinking side had made the trip to West Yorkshire.
The Frenchman was perhaps unlucky to lose his job after a difficult run of fixtures, but Palace have followed in the footsteps of the Whites by appointing a new manager and immediately winning a game against a rival at the bottom of the table.
Gracia confirmed on Thursday (6 April) that he will not have any extra players returning from injury and will use the same squad that played against Forest.
This means that key defender Max Wober is still out, but Willy Gnonto, who was fit but stayed on the bench on Tuesday, is back in contention.
If Jack Harrison can maintain his excellent form now that his new contract is in place, and the midfield of Marc Roca and Weston McKennie can thrive in Tyler Adams’ absence, the Whites will undoubtedly fulfill Stelling’s prediction.
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