
The Leeds United players were on their haunches when the final whistle blew at Wembley in the playoff final as their Southampton counterparts celebrated earning the ticket to the Premier League. The Whites suffered playoff heartbreak after they finished third in the Championship standings to miss out on automatic promotion. They became the first side since 1998 not to get promoted despite scoring 90 or more points. Leeds had to go through a painful summer of reconstruction of their squad following the departures of a few top stars and Daniel Farke had a massive challenge on his hands to motivate the players to go again this season. It seems the German has succeeded as Leeds sit at the summit after 30 games and if last season is an indicator, they are well on their way to the Premier League.
The 7-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday showed the ability of the Leeds United team and what they can do when they are in full flow and some of the players break out from the shackles of extra pressure.
Leeds are sitting on 63 points from 30 games at this stage of the season. They have a two-point lead over Sheffield United in second and have a five-point buffer over Burnley who are just outside the automatic promotion spots.
They just missed out on the top two last season and Farke and his players are determined to ensure that they get automatic promotion to avoid the emotional upheaval of the playoffs.
However, there is solace to take from last season for the Leeds fans and if the indications are right, the Whites are pretty much on their way back to the Premier League unless they suffer a drastic loss of form.
Leeds United are overperforming compared to last season
On any other season, Leeds would have got promoted last season but the 2023/24 Championship campaign was a real outlier due to the quality of the teams at the top end.
90 points would have got the job done for Leeds on any other year but they were unlucky they came up against two juggernauts in Leicester City and Ipswich.
Leicester were on 72 points after 30 games, nine points better than the current league leaders of the Championship in the Whites and Ipswich in second were just a point behind this season’s Leeds.
However, the good news for the Yorkshire giants is they are 13 points better off compared to last year at this stage of the campaign. That’s a massive improvement for a team who lost their top scorer in the summer.
The news gets better for Leeds as neither Sheffield United nor Burnley seem to be shaping up to have as good a season as Leicester or Ipswich Town had last year.
While Leicester and Ipswich looked like unstoppable forces in the latter half of the campaign, Sheffield United and Burnley have shown inconsistencies.
The Whites are on course to break their points haul from last season and if they maintain their form, it seems more than likely that they will get promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season.
However, the Yorkshire giants can’t afford to rest on their laurels
Leeds seem to be in the driver’s seat to finish in the top two and earn automatic promotion to the Premier League this year but they cannot take their foot off the pedal.
The Championship remains a notoriously difficult league to predict and it is still very tight at the top of the table at this stage of the campaign.
Burnley’s goalscoring woes have allowed Leeds to build a five-point buffer with them and they look a bit more secure in the automatic promotion spots.
However, the Whites have tough games coming soon and the table could look very different if they suffer a couple of slip-ups towards the end of this month.
Leeds have games against Sunderland and Sheffield United towards the end of February and those games could again rejig the Championship table at the top end.
Daniel Farke hopes to keep his players focused and take one game at a time as they look to chase down what they failed to do last season – earn promotion to the Premier League.
