Leeds United and Daniel Farke are aiming to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking in 2024/25.
Despite enjoying a fine season and clocking up a point tally that would ordinarily win a club automatic promotion, Leeds United had to plan their next steps for this season carefully in the Championship after missing out on promotion to the top-flight both automatically and via the play-offs.
Heading into the summer, promotion to the Premier League was again the priority for Leeds after finishing third in the Championship with an impressive 90 points last season — and there will be real disappointment if the club fail to do so this time around.
Plenty of players left the club again last summer. However, despite having just missed out on automatic promotion, there remained optimism that the club could be strong again this season.
Still, many of the fundamental pieces of Farke’s side won’t be sticking around for a third push should they miss out again this year.
Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images
Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images
Daniel Farke’s admission shows why Leeds must avoid play-off battle
High-profile departures like Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, and Archie Gray have chased Premier League opportunities, but optimism remained high despite that, with the Whites looking to go one better in 2024/25 and still maintaining a strong squad with impressive signings in the summer.
The 2024/25 race for automatic promotion is shaping up to be one of the most fiercely contested in recent memory at this moment in time. The race to gain promotion from the Championship heated up yet again this weekend.
The international break signifies that we are at the business end of the season, which will be a test of the resolve of numerous teams in the mix during the automatic promotion run-in. A disappointing draw to QPR has tightened things up again for Leeds, despite Daniel Farke’s admission of making a mistake with his starting line-up.
Farke will be concerned about more mistakes and dropping out of the top two, given his comments after the play-off final last season against Southampton. Speaking via the BBC post-match at the time, he said: “As you can imagine, it couldn’t be worse. We are suffering a lot in this moment.
“When you come so close after 90 points and a great play-off semi-final, it hurts a lot.
“It’s too early to come in with upbeat messages. You have to allow the players to be down but when you look at the bigger picture, there’s no need to dwell on this. It’s more important to take it as extra motivation.
“The supporters deserve a day to celebrate and we feel that pain today. We’re disappointed we could not send our fans back with something to cheer about and we’re not in the promised land.
“It’ll be difficult to come back stronger because we had 90 points this season. The only statistic that matters in a final is the score.”
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Daniel Farke will be desperate to avoid the play-offs with Leeds’ record in mind
Leeds maintained their place at the Championship’s summit despite the issue with Brenden Aaronson Leeds fans have and also continued their good run in many ways, which has now stretched to one defeat from the last 20 games in the Championship, including 13 wins in that time.
However, their play-off record is, frankly, dreadful, which is something Farke and co. will be desperate to avoid. The disappointment of falling short of the top two for a consecutive season would surely have a big impact on the Whites.
Year Team Result
1987 Charlton Athletic 3-2 (after two legs and a replay)
2006 Watford 3-0 (final)
2008 Doncaster Rovers 1-0 (final)
2009 Millwall 2-1 (semi-final)
2019 Derby County 4-3 (semi-final)
2024 Southampton 1-0 (final)
Leeds’ defeats in play-off competitions
Leeds and Sheffield United are set for just shy of 100 points based on their current points-per-game rate, which would be among the highest points totals ever in the Championship. Unsurprisingly teams that have Premier League quality in their ranks can compete to such levels.
Given the talent on display at each Championship team in the mix, we can expect more twists and turns from here. Farke’s side only need 11 points from eight games to beat last seasons total, but they must avoid a collapse like last season in order to do so.
Simply put, this team cannot afford another rebuild this summer if they do end up resigned to a third year in the second tier. It’s now or never for Farke and the Whites, and they have to get over the line by any means necessary.