Leeds United provided more evidence on Saturday that their away form will keep their supporters up all night this season. Only an injury-time own goal helped the Whites leave Deepdale with a 1-1 draw against Preston North End in a crucial Championship game.
Mateo Joseph’s flick was seemingly off target and it was only the touch from Preston defender Jack Whatmough that helped the ball direct towards the goal and earn a point for the away side at Deepdale this weekend.
Leeds came into the game on the back of two wins over Derby County and Middlesbrough but those were home games and Leeds again showed on Saturday that their form on the road is a massive cause for concern.
Daniel Farke’s side have won just three times on the road in ten league games this season and the Leeds boss’ tactics away from home have been questioned, especially against the top sides in the Championship.
Leeds have time and again struggled to come back into games on the road once they conceded the first goal and the story was moving towards a similar conclusion at Deepdale until Whatmough rolled the ball into his own net in stoppage time.
Do Leeds need to worry about their away form? Definitely, as while good home form is a harbinger of a successful promotion campaign, a team can’t be this lacklustre on the road and hope to finish in the top two.
Leeds United faced similar problems in attack at Deepdale
Leeds created next to nothing in the first half after conceding and looked listless in attack as the home side sat deep and defended diligently.
Ao Tanaka’s blocked shot ten minutes into the second half was the first proper chance Leeds had all game and it was telling that the clock was almost touching the hour mark.
The away side had 18 attempts but most of those were shots from outside the box with Daniel James being really unlucky to hit the crossbar once. However, shots from outside the box are not a sign of a team creating good-quality chances for the forwards and the Whites had very few clear-cut opportunities to score.
Patrick Bamford showed why Farke doesn’t trust him by missing from close quarters but that was the limit of what the team created in terms of clear-cut chances.
Leeds dominated the ball with 65 percent possession but were left with having shots from outside the box to try and prize open a disciplined Preston defence.
Preston have been hard to beat in recent weeks and while they are not winning games, they are not losing them as well and showed why Deepdale is a tough place to go for any team.
However, the problems Leeds had at Preston were similar to the issues they have faced away from home all season. It was not a surprise that they were seconds away from losing once more on the road.
Away form needs to improve if Leeds are to earn automatic promotion
Leeds have an enviable home form, winning nine of their eleven league games but three wins in ten on the road is not good enough as well for a team vying for automatic promotion.
We have already discussed why home form is crucial in the promotion race but it is essential that Leeds must now find a way to win more games on the road as well.
Recent Championship history suggests that Leeds’ chances of finishing in the top two could get dented if they remain this poor away from home all season.
If we take the 2023/24 season into account, Leicester and Ipswich won 14 and 12 games on the road respectively. Even if Leeds are to match Ipswich’s record, they would have to win nine of their remaining 13 away games.
However, let’s assume last season was an outlier as Leeds earned 90 points and still failed to get promoted, which happened for the first time in 26 years.
Even then, in the 2022/23 season, Burnley and Sheffield United won 13 and 12 games on the road respectively in their run for automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Recent history suggests that a team need to win somewhere around 12 away games to be in the top two and for now, Leeds seem well below those standards.
The Championship season is shaping up to be very tight at the top and it is clear from recent records that Leeds cannot afford to just depend on their excellent home form to carry them to the Premier League this season.
