Leeds United’s defeat to an inexperienced Sheffield Wednesday side beset with ownership problems will always be one of the low points this season, regardless of what else unfolds.
The Whites fielded a number of senior stars but were beaten 3-0 on penalties in the second round of the League Cup after an in-game error by Karl Darlow. Few expected Leeds to go too far into the competition but it was a humiliating way to get booted out.
Daniel Farke was hesitant to touch on the positives after a loss. He did reference the minutes gained by those who had not played much up to that point, but perhaps another element was lingering in the back of the mind too.
The exit means United’s schedule has got a touch lighter, which is a small advantage over some Premier League rivals. Though, how much impact it will ultimately have is questionable.
United only have three games across September, when they otherwise would have had four. Some league rivals have five matches across this month due to European competition. That provides good rest periods and training time for Leeds.
But, at the same time, they are not the only team to have just a trio of fixtures. Leeds are one of six top tier clubs to have that slim number of games and they face two others in the next month.
Fulham, away, and Bournemouth, at home, are among this cohort and come up against the Whites in the coming weeks. So against those teams, Leeds will not exactly have an advantage. But they will against Wolves, away, who are in the next round of the League Cup.
The trip to Molineux is sandwiched in between the clashes with Fulham and Bournemouth, though Wolves' League Cup clash with Everton comes after the visit of Leeds. And reality says that Wolves will likely rotate for the cup anyway, and not do so against United.
But while the advantage does not really come against Leeds’ opponents, it does come in the form of bedding in time for the players. There are worries about United’s attacking strength and Farke will be keen to use training time to concentrate on maximising what he can out of his options.
These next two months are crucial to United’s quest for survival. They do not play a side who finished in last season’s top eight until November and so points must be racked up ahead of a tricky period before Christmas.
The Premier League is about tight margins and making use of the incremental advantages to hand. For Leeds, that is training time and tactics infiltration. This is the main positive to come out of the early exit from the League Cup.
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