The international break is almost over, and Leeds United will have their players back for this weekend’s game. The Whites return to Premier League action as they go away from home to Burnley.
Daniel Farke’s record against Scott Parker has not been the best over the years; last season, Leeds failed to beat Burnley in the Championship. A positive note is that the club may have a clean bill of health ahead of this weekend – none of their players have been injured on international duty so far.
However, many fans will be feeling that they could have entered this international break with more points from their last two games.
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Jermaine Beckford assessed Leeds United season so far
Daniel Farke Credit: Imago
Daniel Farke’s changes to the team since the Fulham game has yielded a lot of great results. In the last two games against Spurs and Bournemouth however, it was not the case. Jermaine Beckford agrees, saying that Daniel Farke’s side could have earned more points from both matches.
“I think every game we’ve been in – the Fulham game, I thought we were unfortunate not to come away with a point.” via YEP.
“I think the same with the Spurs game, we should have come away with a point in that one, and Bournemouth we should have walked away with all three.
“If we look at it from that perspective, that’s an extra five points on top of where we are currently in the league. And that puts us level on points with Man City and fifth place.”
The former Leeds striker then made the bold claim that Daniel Farke has not been outplayed by many teams this season.
“We’ve not been outplayed by many teams this season, we look like we belong so from that perspective I have been impressed, I have been happy.
“I’m not delusional. The manager is not delusional. All it is, it’s just the fine margins.”
Is he right about the Spurs and Bournemouth games?
After the Everton and Newcastle games, there was a bit of optimism despite the 5-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal. Fans complained about the lack of goals in the team and Daniel Farke decided to make some key changes into the attack. He started Brenden Aaronson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor in the front three. And even though it did not work in London, the results in the other games were very positive.
Six goals in the last three games before this international break were a huge positive, but the results were not. Leeds missed a lot of chances to win against Bournemouth, and in the game against Spurs, they missed crucial chance before Thomas Frank’s side took the lead.
According to FBrefs expected goals, the Whites generated more expected goals in the games against Spurs (1.7xG) and Bournemouth (1.8xG).
Leeds United expected goals Credit: FBref
The quality of chances Leeds got in these two matches were enough for them to get six points instead of one. But there is a lot of optimism for the rest of the season.
