Leeds United's next three matches are all against managers just starting out in English football. But Daniel Farke's aim is to ensure that his side also carry an element of surprise this season.
Xabi Alonso is the most known quantity of the three as Leeds travel to Chelsea in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday ahead of games against Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.
Unlike Matthias Jaissle and Pierre Sage, Alonso played Premier League football, for Liverpool, but more significantly for Farke, he made his managerial name leading Bayer Leverkusen to a German domestic double and a Europa League final.
So whilst at Stamford Bridge, the Spaniard has attacking tools at his disposal he could only dream of at Leverkusen, if perhaps not Real Madrid were he was defeated by the Galacitco egos, Farke at least has some idea of what to expect.
ADAPTABLE: Chelsea coach Xabi Alonso (Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)placeholder image
ADAPTABLE: Chelsea coach Xabi Alonso (Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
"Normally he's very flexible, adapting to the question that the game asks," says Farke of a coach who began the campaign in a back three but switched to four in Sunday’s second half against Arsenal. "He can play with different base formations and also a bit different styles. Normally, he would like to dominate possession.
"I know him a little from a time also in Germany played against him twice (when Farke manager Borussia Monchengladbach). He did tremendous work at Leverkusen.
"The last away game, against Arsenal, was a difficult challenge but they were not too far away from taking something out of this game.
"He did tremendous work to win the German title against the giants of Bayern Munich, fantastic work.
NEW TRICKS: Daniel Farke (Image: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
NEW TRICKS: Daniel Farke (Image: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
"He also worked for Real Madrid, who are more or less also a possession-based side.
"(Chelsea’s) first gamedays were slightly different because he had difficult away games and games, for example, against Brighton.
"Once you're 3-0 up after 20 minutes and the opponent is pushing a bit more you can concentrate more on counter-attacks and Brighton is a very possession-based side anyway.
"Sometimes due to the run of the game you can't bring your normal dominance of possession. The first gamedays were a bit more counter-attacking.
PASSING RANGE: Tarik Muharemovic (Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images)placeholder image
PASSING RANGE: Tarik Muharemovic (Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
"This is also what they can do with all their quality and pace up front.
"Whatever the question asks, he has solutions for many topics and we have to be ready for a very demanding game and prepared for different scenarios."
Chelsea's revamped forward line is so good that the brilliant Estevao cannot get into it, so even if Alonso rotates more than Farke expects, the Leeds defence will have to be on their toes.
"When I judge their offence, how they play more or less with (Joao) Pedro, with (Cole) Parmer, with (Morgan) Rodgers, you would say there are not many teams in Europe who have such quality and also look at their options on the bench," commented Farke. "They have all the chances to be super-successful during the season.
"But it's always up to the team to prove it with consistency over a long-term period.
"They definitely have a top manager and top players to play a really good season but we're looking at us and we also want to be competitive.
"We travel, of course, respectful but not in fear. We want to go through to the next round if possible."
And in the season more widely, Leeds want to show greater flexibility too.
Last season they surprised teams because they were new to the Premier League, so with that gone now, they want to have new tricks up their sleeve in 2026-27. At home to Brentford it was about changing formations, and in all games so far, there seems to have been a greater emphasis on players stepping out of the back three or playing long passes to change the pictures.
"In the build-up we always want to be brave and also it's possible to break the pressing, to play football with many good team goals from beating the press and playing out from the back last season," said Farke. "Of course, without the players that we have, more or less, we can be also flexible.
"We also very often have a physical target player up front that we can be a bit more direct (into).
"We want to be hard to predict. We have different approaches and once a team, for example, has very good centre-backs who are capable to dominate aerially and it makes sense to build up with more low passes, that's also what we want to do.
"With players like Tarik Muharemovic and Nico Elvedi we're capable to do this because they have the strengths in the game.
“And once, for example, James Justin plays at the back, we can do this. It's always in our DNA that we want to be on the ball and it's good when defensive players are also capable to do this."
Get that right, and Leeds should not be the only team kept guessing in the next three matches.