As soon as Leeds United won the Championship last year, and gained promotion to the Premier League, a lot of rumours emerged. The biggest one was that the 49ers were not confident of Daniel Farke as head coach.
These reports pointed to the German’s record with Norwich City in the Premier League, where he was relegated multiple times. A whole host of names were linked until club chairman Paraag Marathe came out to publicly back Farke to take the Whites into the Premier League.
Leeds had a decent start to the season – they began their year with a win over Everton. Then followed a trip back down to reality as the club were beaten 5-0 by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. Holding Newcastle to a goalless draw showed a lot of positives in this Leeds side. Two clean sheets in three games before the international break was a decent start above expectations.
QUIZ: Can you name the team Leeds United sold these players to?
Leeds United are performing better than they currently are – according to the numbers
Leeds United Credit: Imago
Then came the Fulham game – Daniel Farke made some key changes to the team in search of their second win of the season. In came Sean Longstaff, Brenden Aaronson, Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to the starting lineup. Leeds lost, but their run of games after this defeat truly showed that Farke had really found something.
Leeds United xG Credit: FBref
They beat Wolves, held Bournemouth to a draw and narrowly lost to Tottenham. One of the big things from these games was how close they were; Leeds were hard to beat, and created many chances against opponents – totalling 4.0 expected goals.
The loss to Burnley came as a shock, but Scott Parker’s side created just 0.5 expected goals. As it stands, Leeds are close to the relegation zone, but advanced statistics show that the Whites should be in the top half of the table. Daniel Farke has coached his side to statistically be the seventh best in the league.
Leeds xGD Credit: FBref
According to expected goal difference, which finds the difference between expected goals for and against; Leeds are a very solid performer this season.
So why are Leeds bad and Daniel Farke under pressure?
It is quite simple; like Daniel Farke said in the loss to Burnley: the club need to do better in both boxes. As it stands, Leeds are conceding too many ‘easy’ goals, whilst missing clear cut chances to score.
Goalscoring has been a huge issue for the whites this season, and it is costing Daniel Farke’s side points. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the main culprit this season – he has missed five big chances.
Leeds United Credit: Sofascore
If he was able to convert key chances, Leeds would be in a better position. Friday’s game against West Ham will be key to what happens at the club in the future, but ultimately, Daniel Farke has his side playing like a top half of the table team.
