Premier League team performance: Leeds face second and toughest season since promotion

One of Europe’s most popular clubs to watch. He scores a lot of goals and he never gives up. Leeds United may be fighting for Europe this year, and just a year and a half ago they were playing Stoke City or Cardiff in the Championship.

Leeds have not started the new season well at all. At Old Trafford they lost by a high score of 1: 5, falling short in every respect. Paul Pogba (4 assists) and Bruno Fernandes (3 goals) did what they wanted with it.

Saturday’s game confirmed a well-known fact. And that is that the second season among the English elite is usually the most difficult for newcomers. Huddersfield and Sheffield have experienced it in the recent past, both of these clubs, after an excellent first season, totally failed in the second one.

Despite the heavy defeat to Manchester City, however, Leeds’ fight for relegation should not concern them. Its squad is qualitatively closer to the European cups than the second league, after all, last season it finished only three points behind seventh-placed Tottenham.

It played countless excellent games, beat Manchester City and Tottenham, robbed all the teams from the Top 6 of points and closed the season with a whopping sixty-two goals scored.

A big part of the excellent season is the spike striker Patrick Bamford, who fought for the award for the best league cannon until the last rounds. He finally took off the label of a second league goalscorer.

From the wings, he is supported vigorously by the Raphinha – Jack Harrison pairing. The former, immediately after his transfer from France, ranked among the best right wingers in the league, while the latter, by his excellent performances, has asked to exercise his option and remain in Yorkshire.

England international Kalvin Phillips, who was one of Gareth Southgate’s most important players at the Euros, operates in midfield. Fellow forward Mateusz Klich also stood out in the Premier League last season.

In defence, it is worth mentioning Diego Llorente, who was included in the Spanish nomination for the summer Euros, and Luke Ayiling and the versatile Stuart Dallas also gave sympathetic performances. For goalkeeper Ilian Meslier, it depends on what kind of day he is having, but he is undoubtedly an excellent choice for the future.

Ezgjan Alioski will no longer run on the left edge of defence (he left for Saudi Arabia), the management brought in an adequate replacement in Junior Firpo. Otherwise there was no major movement in the club, the squad remained basically unchanged.

A few lines should also be written about the coach. Marcelo Bielsa is one of the most respected coaches in the world, mainly because of his tactical ability. Without him, Leeds would hardly have been promoted a year ago.

The bottom line is that Leeds have a strong team that is already adapted to play against the best. This year, they can easily play for the elite seven, guaranteeing European cups. But to achieve that goal, they need to change a lot from their opening game against the Red Devils.

9th place