Leeds United losing to Burnley over the weekend was a huge blow to the club. Like Daniel Farke mentioned a few weeks ago; at Elland Road, the narrative changes after every result.
Recently, the consensus was the Leeds were performing above expectations and should have gotten better results against Bournemouth and Spurs. And rightly so, in those games the Whites generated more goalscoring chances, and on another day, should have scored more.
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Leeds United expected goals Credit: FBref
Now, everybody has a negative outlook on the season – and they have every right to do so. Leeds have won just one game in their last eight matches. The fact that Daniel Farke’s team have won just one game since the start of the season is even more baffling; the Burnley game should have gotten a result.
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David O’Leary gives honest verdict on Leeds United
Leeds United vs West Ham
Daniel Farke Credit: Imago
Former Leeds United manager David O’Leary however, has a slightly different view on how the season has gone for the Whites. To him, the club are in a good place, and have made themselves difficult beat; something he believes will serve them well down the line.
“Look, the teams that have come up this year have made it clear they are not going to play fancy football.
“We are probably not going to look great, but we are going to play effective football that suits us and we are going to become a team that is hard to beat.
“They have said ‘look, if we’re going to go down then we’re really going to go down with a fight’, and I think the three teams that have come up this year are going to make it very difficult for teams they face – they are going to give it a really good go.
“There is every chance they stay up, particularly Sunderland, the start they have given themselves, they have every chance of staying up.
O’Leary then urges Leeds and Daniel Farke to start beating teams around them, after they failed to take points from Burnley last weekend.
“Leeds have got to beat the teams around them, you look at this Friday, they play West Ham, they’ll never have a better chance of getting three points than against a very poor West Ham side.
“That’s where Leeds have got to go if they are going to stay up, they have got win games likes this coming up on Friday night.”
Leeds are a tough team to beat this season
Despite having conceded 13 goals and having one of the worst clean sheet records in the Premier League; statistically Leeds are a tough team to beat. The Whites are near the top of the table for expected goals against (xGA) with 8.3xGA just behind Arsenal, Newcastle United and Manchester City.
Leeds United expected goals against Credit: FBref
Which means the reason the club concede goals is not down to their setup; rather defensive lapses, set pieces and some poor goalkeeping. This fact is backed up even more with the numbers, when you find out that Leeds are among the teams to have conceded the least shots.
Leeds shots against Credit: FBref
Daniel Farke is doing something right defensively, but the offence must improve if the Whites are to avoid relegation.
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