Ahead of Saturday’s 3pm kick off at Molineux, Jack Johnson speaks to Dan Holdsworth from All Stats Aren’t We to better understand Leeds United’s season so far, their busy summer window, and what Wolves fans can expect to see on Saturday.
Leeds had a monumental Championship campaign last season, finishing on 100 points and winning the title. How does it feel to be back in the Premier League, and what have you made of your first few games?
It feels great to be back amongst the big time. We expect it to be a struggle this season and I think most fans understand the gap between the leagues. We have all seen how hard it has been for a while now for promoted teams to survive. But if we can survive, I feel like we have the infrastructure, earning potential and most importantly, sensible owners that mean we could establish ourselves more firmly this time. We need to survive this first season though!
The season so far has been that of a hard to beat team trying to establish itself in a new league that hasn’t yet worked out how to open teams up. I expect we will improve going forward, but it may be a while yet before we see ourselves create a decent number of chances in a game. We are relying on nicking a goal and hanging on at the moment.
Last time the sides met in the Premier League, Leeds took all three points in a 4-2 win at Molineux. How different is this Leeds team we’ll see this Saturday, as opposed to the one that suffered relegation in 2023?
The squad is quite different now, though there are some survivors from the Leeds team that played that day. Illan Meslier is still around, though he won’t start. Pascal Struijk was on the bench that day, but will likely start at CB on Saturday. The three behind the striker that day, Gnonto, Harrison and Aaronson are all involved in the team or off the bench this season. Don’t be shocked to see one of them starting on the wing and the other two being on the bench.
The starting keeper, 3/4s of the defence, the midfield three and the striker are all new players though and they’re all way bigger. Big lads at Leeds United this season.
It’s been a busy summer for Leeds, with most positions on the pitch seeing some form of investment in reinforcements. Of the new additions, which player has caught your eye the most?
Anton Stach, the German midfielder signed for around €20m from Hoffenheim, has been great. He stands at 6’5”, but he’s not just a big lump in midfield. He plays as one of the 8s, either side of captain Ethan Ampadu. While he does have great defensive attributes and could play as the primary defensive midfielder, he has excelled as more of a box-to-box player who progresses the ball wonderfully and does make chances – he is currently second in the league behind Bruno Fernandes for chances created.
Daniel Farke’s Championship record is stellar, but his Premier League record is statistically the lowest of any manager to reach 25 games. Of course, he has been backed financially by Leeds in a way he wasn’t at Norwich, but is his top-flight record still a cause for concern?
Yes, it is. The problem those of us at All Stats Aren’t We see with him is his inability to really affect a game mid-game. We saw this last week away at Fulham. For an hour Leeds were the better team, Fulham adapted, and Farke was unable to then adjust to take back control of the game and the Fulham pressure counted against us in the end, albeit slightly unluckily from a Leeds perspective.
The way he seems to have adapted and changed as a coach in a positive way since his time at Norwich is his ability to set up a defence. We hardly gave away any chances last season, despite the narrative around Burnley’s defence. Leeds’ underlying defensive numbers were way better, the difference between the teams was that they had an England level keeper and we had a walking disaster in goal.
That decent defensive set-up has come with us to the Premier League. Defensively, we look more than good enough to survive. We have conceded 5xG in 4 games this season, 2.88xG of that was vs Arsenal, leaving 0.70 on average conceded v Everton, Newcastle, Fulham. Respectable numbers. Expect a tight game on Saturday!
Wolves are still searching for their first Premier League points of the season, so fans will see this as a must-win to get their season going. Which player do you see as the biggest threat to Leeds’ hopes of taking three points?
The perhaps obvious answer is Jorgen Strand Larsen being fit. If he is fit and playing towards his best, he will be a handful for our CBs to face. We don’t have crazy pace at the back. Rodon covers the ground fairly well, but nothing like JSL. Rodrigo Gomes looks like a player to me as well!
What is your predicted lineup for Leeds?
Darlow (Perri is likely injured); Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Gudmundsson; Longstaff, Ampadu, Stach; Harrison, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor
And finally, what is your predicted scoreline for Saturday’s fixture?
1-1
