Farke admits Leeds were second best in concerning defeat
Sunday, 2nd Nov 2025 17:20 by Tim Whelan
It was a difficult weekend for Leeds, and not just because we were well beaten by Brighton and Hove Albion, but also because a few of our rivals at the bottom of the table showed some signs of improvement.
Daniel Farke didn’t try to make any excuses when he spoke to LUTV after the final whistle. “We don’t have to over-analyse the game. Today, they were the better side. They deserved to win this game and there is no sugar coating it. It was not our day today, there were a few key moments, and for that, we have to accept the loss”.
“If you have a look at the game, it was quite equal because it was 50-50 possession, even seven to four corners to us, but you have to be honest, out of their possession and also out of their set pieces, they created way more and were way more clinical in front of our goal. For that, they deserve to win this game”.
He might have added that Brighton’s defending was far more effective than ours, and our problems began as early as the 11th minute. Minteh chipped a neat ball to Wieffer on the right side of the area, and Perri left himself exposed by charging out of his goal to meet in. He made the opposite mistake to when Saka put one past him at the Emirates, when he was focused on a possible cross rather than covering the shot.
This time our keeper closed down the immediate danger, but he was always going to be stranded if Wieffer chipped the ball past him into the centre, where Welbeck was able to evade the three defenders around him to score from close range. That said Perri did manage to make several good saves later in the game to keep the score down to respectable margins.
It could have got worse before half time, as we got into a muddle trying to play out from the back, but Welbeck shot just wide. Then Minteh broke through and shot narrowly wide after ignoring Rutter’s run to his left, which might have been because he’d seen the quality of some of Rutter’s finishing while he was with us.
But the Brighton second did arrive on 64 minutes, when Minteh’s quick feet got the better of Gudmundsson on the Brighton right. Though the was an element of fortune about the final touch, as a deflection took the ball slightly behind the onrushing Gómez, only for the ball to bounce into the net off his trailing leg.
Their third goal came down the opposite flank, starting with a couple of clever flicks from Rutter, then a mistake from Bogle giving the ball back to our ex-player. Rutter got to the byline and crossed for Gómez to sweep the ball home from six yards, though at least had the decency not to celebrate his part in the goal against his former team.
At the other end of the field Okafor was the only player to emerge with any credit, as Leeds again struggled to convert our possession into any clear-cut chances. Calvert-Lewin looked isolated for much of the time, and in any case was well-martialled by Lewis Dunk. Our best chance came near the end after he’d been substituted, but his replacement Nmecha took a slightly heavy touch and gave himself a narrow angle to shoot from.
His shot was saved and came back out to Stach, and the German got past a defender before forcing Verbruggen to make a fine save. But in any case it would only have been a consolation, as the game was well gone by then. In many ways this game was more concerning than the 5-0 defeat at Arsenal, as Brighton hadn’t been having a great season themselves up until now.
It leaves us 16th in the table, but events elsewhere might indicate that the established Premier league teams beneath might start to improve in the months to come. West Ham’s win over Newcastle was an unpleasant surprise, and showed that Nuno might have learned from the tactical errors that blighted his start to life at the London stadium.
His midfield looked much better for including the younger Potts from the start, and he’s given up on the inverted full backs idea that confused his whole defence in the first few games. They seemed to have far more spirit and togetherness, as did Forest in their draw with Man U, a sign that Sean Dyche might also start to get better results from the side he has inherited.
And Wolves sacked their manager today, after a defeat at Fulham that didn’t really do us any favours. Many Wolves fans say that their real problem is the club’s owners, but it’s always possible that whoever comes in will start to get a tune out of their limited squad. So there is a real danger that these clubs will have caught us up by the time we have finished our difficult run of fixtures at the end of the year.
All of which makes our trip to Nottingham Forest a week today look pretty crucial. For the time being I’m not going to join that faction on social media who are calling for Farke’s dismissal, but these are worrying times.
_Reuters_
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