Thursday night saw Daniel Farke produce another tactical masterclass to earn Leeds United a point against Liverpool at Anfield – but he also matched a record of his own.
Despite Joe Rodon’s absence and Daniel Farke’s surprise move to make four changes to the side that secured a point against Sunderland on Wearside, Leeds kept their first clean sheet since August.
Sebastiaan Bornauw was handed his first-ever Premier League start and coped well before eventually being subbed off. The Belgium international almost got an assist, had Dominic Calvert-Lewin been onside.
James Justin won the man of the match award in only his second league start for Leeds, as he gave Jayden Bogle a rest with the latter on four yellow cards. Ethan Ampadu will be suspended for Sunday.
Was that Leeds’ best defensive display of the season? 🤔
Even without Joe Rodon…
Already, Daniel Farke has the same points Norwich won in 19-20
Much has been made about Farke’s future as Leeds manager. Back in the summer, many felt Leeds needed to go in a different direction, purely based on Farke’s struggles at Norwich in the Premier League.
Indeed, Farke’s only full season in the Premier League had equated to just 21 points. He had managed a total of 49 Premier League games with the Canaries, amassing just six wins and a tiny total of 26 points.
However, the 49ers stuck with Farke in the summer, and in December, after a run of six losses in seven. Farke has repaid them. Leeds have climbed to 21 points, the same tally he won at Norwich in 2019-20.
Of course, Farke has managed to win the same tally he did in a full season at Norwich, in half a season at Leeds. An incredible achievement and one that will surely earn Farke some coffee and cake on the sofa.
How many points do Leeds need to stay up this season?
If it was last season, Leeds would only need five more points to obtain safety. That is how bad Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton were. The best the trio could muster was Ipswich’s tally of 25 points.
This season is different. It is going to take a whole lot more than just 25 points to survive. Better teams are down in the relegation zone, even Burnley will feel hard done by that they have just 12 points.
Agree or disagree – Leeds will be disappointed not to have nicked a win at Anfield
Watch the highlights and let us know what you think
West Ham are the ones Leeds must finish above. The Hammers have a tally of 14 points so far, but they are already strengthening in the transfer market, even signing Leeds’ transfer target Taty Castellanos.
The Hammers will improve and their second half to the season will amass more points than the first, which saw them win just 14. If they managed to secure 20, that means Leeds still need to win five games.
It is going to be above 35 points required to remain in the Premier League this season. Leeds never do things the easy way, but having secured 21 points, Farke’s men can be confident they will have enough.
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