Leeds United’s Championship season has now passed the quarter-way point with them sat third in the table. Here are five things we have learned so far.
Daniel Farke’s defensive priority
Speaking after Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Bristol City, Daniel Farke said the league’s best defensive side is always the one that ends up winning promotion.
As such, it is clear Farke has placed a real importance on keeping goals out of their net. No side in the division have conceded less expected goals against (xGA) than Leeds, which is a stat that measures the quality of shots a team is facing.
That is almost reflected in the number of goals they have actually shipped, as only Sheffield United, Burnley and West Brom have less.
If Leeds can continue this sort of form at the back all season, then their attacking talent should carry them over the line more often than not.
Pascal Struijk Leeds’ most important player
Building on from Farke placing a clear importance on Leeds’ defensive record is just how important Pascal Struijk has been.
Struijk missed the entire second half of last season through injury but since coming back into the side on the opening day against Portsmouth, has been almost faultless.
Not only is he like a magnet to set-pieces at both ends of the pitch, but his ability on the ball also makes him crucial to Farke’s style of play. If he stays fit all season, Leeds should get promoted.
Leeds have found a real bargain in Ao Tanaka
Only Chelsea made more money in player sales than Leeds during the summer and so when the window closed, there was a slight underwhelming feeling about how much was reinvested back in the squad.
However, the signing of Ao Tanaka has proven you don’t always have to spend big to find quality, as he cost less than £3 million and has been outstanding.
Tanaka only actually got his chance in the team after long-term injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev, but has not looked back since.
His performances against the likes of Sheffield United and Watford has given Leeds hope they will be able to get by until Ampadu returns.
Wilfried Gnonto steps up after Leeds exodus
After losing both Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville in the summer, the question was always going to be who could step up this season in attack.
The goals have actually been spread out fairly evenly across the team this season but Wilfried Gnonto, particularly before the most recent international break, has taken the responsibility of main man.
Gnonto has two goals and four assists so far but the confidence in which he is playing with is reflected in more than that.
He averages double the number of successful dribbles (1.6 vs 0.8) in comparison to this time last year, and has also already created more big chances too (Seven vs Five).
Championship is weaker this season
Points wise Leeds are only slightly better off than they were this time last season, but they are considerably closer to the top of the table.
Leicester City and Ipswich Town absolutely raced out of the blocks 12 months ago and it wasn’t until March/April that Leeds were able to catch them up.
Leeds were one of four sides to end on over 87 points last term and you can almost guarantee that standard won’t be repeated this time around.
If Leeds can string together a similar run to what they did between January and March, then promotion would be more than likely.
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