Leeds United
Premier League stand. Credit: Imago
Leeds United go into the summer off the back of a relatively successful season. After winning promotion from the Championship, no one really gave the Whites a chance.
They were one of the teams tipped to go straight back down. It had been a trend in recent years; all three newly-promoted teams had been relegated in the last few seasons.
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This year proved to be different as Leeds and Sunderland broke the trend. They did it in different ways; the Black Cats picked up most of their points in the first half of the season, and ended in a European place.
Leeds on the other hand, had an inconsistent campaign before Daniel Farke turned things around just before the end of last year.
A strong run in the final month of the season helped the Whites finish in 14th place.
Latest VAR revelations will leave Leeds United furious
A lot of things went against Leeds United during this campaign; injuries struck at multiple points, with Farke having to reshuffle the team often.
The Leeds boss was also under pressure around November, and was on the brink of being sacked but the 49ers decided to keep faith in him.
Refereeing decisions also went against Daniel Farke’s side, especially in the second half of the season.
Games against Sunderland and Crystal Palace saw egregious refereeing decisions go against them at a point of the season where they badly needed the results in their fight for survival.
BBC Sports have detailed the clubs that benefited the most from VAR and on-field errors this season – Arsenal and Chelsea top the list.
Leeds United are bottom with zero VAR and on-field errors in their favour, but they had four go against them.
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Poor refereeing could have cost the Whites this year
Leeds survived the Premier League despite some of the decisions that went against them. For the large part, they won their points fair and square and were not involve in any controversies.
But incidents like the missed penalty for Pascal Struijk being held in the box against Sunderland, and Gabriel Gudmundsson being sent off against Palace were costly.
If the Whites were not such a good side that could get results on the pitch, things could have gone differently this campaign.
Daniel Farke was very vocal about Premier League refereeing this season, and he has been proven right by these findings.