Staying in the Premier League is the aim for Leeds United in 2025/26, but it’s clearly become more difficult for newly-promoted sides in recent years.
For successive seasons, relegation has been the outcome for all three teams promoted from the Championship to the Premier League — but it wasn’t always like this and that is what Leeds United will cling to.
You have to go back 27 years in the 1997/98 campaign to find the first season in which all of the teams promoted to the top flight in England were relegated.
Leeds are looking to break the recent cycle and many neutrals see them as the best-placed of the three promoted teams to do so. However, there is one aspect they absolutely need to have.
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Paul Scholes’ verdict on Leeds’ survival chances
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Overlap, Paul Scholes and Simon Rix of The Kaiser Chiefs spoke about what it takes to survive relegation from the Premier League.
Scholes: “What about goalscoring-wise? I always think when a team comes up — if they can score goals, they’ve got half a chance.
“I said it about Ipswich. You’re such an attacking team but they came to the Premier League and got hammered by everyone. But didn’t really go for it the way they did [in the Championship].
“I always think, if you’ve got goals in your team, it gives you a chance.”
Rix: “Everyone’s been scoring this season. As opposed to last season when we didn’t go up, we had a couple of people scoring all the goals.
“This season, everyone’s been chipping in. Lots of goals from the wings. Piroe is the highest scorer in the Championship, so there’s lots of goals this year.
“Whether they translate?”
Scholes: “Do you think you need a centre-forward?”
Rix: “Everyone needs a centre-forward. Arsenal need one, Liverpool need one, everyone needs one.
“But, if you can get goals from elsewhere? That’s the secret. If we can get goals from elsewhere, that’ll be good.
“When we did well, Bamford got 17 goals. But, actually, it was his hold up play and bringing others in that got us up to finish ninth that season.”
Scholes loved playing against Leeds but it’s unclear whether the Man United legend is all that keen for them to survive next season.
What kind of striker do Leeds need for the Premier League?
Leeds are interested in signing Nikola Krstovic which has already seen a number of Leeds fans become keen to bring in Krstovic from Serie A this summer.
The issue is, Krstovic could cost Leeds £50 million from Lecce. But in profile terms? He makes the most sense. Leeds need a striker that can hold the ball up and link play in equal measure.
If they possess a degree of strength and the ability to pin with their frame, then that is already a strong start. Purely on the basis that it can help Leeds to alleviate pressure on their defence.
On top of that, Leeds need a player who is athletic and mobile enough to run the channels and pull the opposition’s back line around. That all-round centre-forward profile is an absolute must.
If Leeds can sign someone who can do all of that, as well as score and make goals for themselves, then they have already given themselves a far greater chance of breaking said cycle.
Our pick for Leeds is Ermedin Demirovic of VfB Stuttgart, given that he can do all of the above and scores goals on a consistent basis.
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