Leeds United have made a solid start to life back in the Premier League, and have looked more resilient and confident than most promoted teams in recent years. They are now being backed to stay up despite early-season predictions of doom and gloom.
With eight points from their opening eight league games, Leeds look far away from a team that may struggle to survive in the Premier League at the end of the season.
Their performances have demonstrated resilience and competitiveness that were missing from recent promoted teams, and even established Premier League sides are struggling to cope with their physicality at Elland Road.
A few of the established teams have looked worse than Leeds at the start of the season, with West Ham now the prime contenders to be in the drop zone, instead of the promoted teams.
Leeds United and Sunderland have more quality than West Ham – Journalist
West Ham managed a 1-1 draw at Everton on Monday night, in the first game under the management of Nuno Espirito Santo, who replaced Graham Potter over the weekend.
However, they are still 19th in the Premier League, and Leeds have four more points than the Hammers at this stage of the season.
Nuno has been brought in to fix the season, but journalist Rory Smith has conceded that it won’t be a quick fix as the Hammers are devoid of identity and quality.
He believes that, as things stand, Sunderland and Leeds have better quality in their team than West Ham, who he feels are drifting away at the moment.
“I think the issue that West Ham have, or part of it, is that they’re completely devoid of identity”, Rory Smith said on the BBC’s Monday Night Club.
“I think when you look at the squad, particularly in the context of what Sunderland have done in the transfer market this summer, and Leeds as well to a slightly lesser extent, but they’ve invested heavily and they’ve bought quality.
“West Ham do look like they’re drifting and they’re not, they’re kind of just throwing a bit of money around seeing what happens, and there’s no real kind of common sense, common thread to it.”
West Ham and Wolves give Leeds hope of staying up
Leeds are 12th in the Premier League, and as things stand, the Whites may be in a brilliant position to survive in the Premier League this season.
There are more than just three teams that look worse than Leeds at this stage, and some of them may recover, but West Ham and Wolves looked doomed.
Nuno may still spark a revival, but the Hammers may have to spend money in the winter window to fix the squad, and even that may not be enough.
Wolves have looked the worst team in the league and are early contenders to finish bottom of the Premier League.
For now, it seems a safe bet to suggest that Leeds will finish above West Ham and Wolves at the end of the season.
