Leeds United fans would have treasured a win over Manchester United more than any other this season and Sunday’s clash at Elland Road was undoubtedly a great opportunity. A victory would have ended a 23-year wait for league success over their most loathed rivals, but as will often be the case this season, one point made for another good weekend in West Yorkshire.
When you put the fire and the fury of this rivalry to one side, this was another useful draw for Daniel Farke’s side as they slowly inch their way to safety. Once again, Leeds were the last of the division’s bottom six clubs to play their 20th match of the season and they saw all but one of their rivals lose on Saturday.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, surely too far behind Leeds to catch them now, did win, but even in doing that actually helped widen the gap to West Ham United. The difference with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in 18th is now eight points.
The seven-match unbeaten run for Leeds may include five draws, but that has been enough. Farke’s outfit are as close to seventh place as they are to the drop zone (eight points either way). Yes, there are a lot of clubs in the way when they look up, but is that the direction they should now be looking?
There is a long way still to go. If any club can set a new precedent for collapsing from a supposedly safe position into oblivion, Leeds fans will believe it is theirs. As Farke will be only too keen to spell out over the coming weeks, the club is not safe until it is mathematically impossible to go down.
Sure enough, he was asked about this remarkable run of form since the start of December in his post-match press conference.
Leeds took satisfaction in their point (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
“We know we are a good and competitive side and, of course, it gives confidence if you have the momentum, but we will stay humble,” he said. “We know we always have to invest everything, also from the physical output to show these competitive performances, and we need to be spirited and tight together because we don’t have the best individual quality.
“(This is) another good point for achieving our goals, but yes, during this season, 22 points won’t be enough to stay in this league. We need to win a few more.”
As precedents go, Leeds would be the first team in a 38-game Premier League season to be relegated, having had an eight-point cushion after 20 matches, if they were to go down next May.
Nobody should start taking anything for granted, but the way this unbeaten streak has been extended, week after week, underlines it is not a flash in the pan. The system change, and Farke’s proven ability to tweak it game by game, and performances of players well beyond a core of 11 starters, is demonstrably competitive.
Cynics cannot even point to an easy fixture schedule as the reason for the upturn in results, either. Five of the division’s top 12 (Liverpool twice, Chelsea, Brentford, Manchester United and Sunderland) have been matched or beaten since the switch to a 5-3-2.
The slight disappointment on Sunday spoke volumes, too. Leeds had 48 hours less time than Manchester United to recover and prepare for this game, within a wider run of four matches across 10 days, and could have conceivably won the match, despite the obvious gulf in wages and transfer expenditure.
Farke was without three of his four most-used players (Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, captain Ethan Ampadu), but their understudies have stepped up to the plate. James Justin, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Ilia Gruev were excellent at Anfield on New Year’s Day and would not have ordinarily played again with so little recovery, but Farke said he had no choice but to start them again.
Further forward, Brenden Aaronson was so nearly the hero. It’s been an odd season for the American. He started the campaign on the bench, down the pecking order, but injuries saw him thrust into a nine-game starting streak that only saw frustration in his displays grow as results nosedived.
Brenden Aaronson scores Leeds’ opener (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Since being taken out of the firing line in the switch to a five-man defence, Aaronson has had time to take a breath. He has returned with composure and quality added to his tireless work rate. Bright performances at Sunderland and Liverpool were cemented on Sunday with a goal created by his own never-say-die attitude.
He wanted the ball more than Ayden Heaven and made it so. In a fraught game low on quality, Aaronson’s tenacity stood out as he made more of the half-chances that came his way than others.
The spotlight was left to shine a little more warmly on Lucas Perri. His distribution was, again, inconsistent (outright poor in moments) while his goalkeeping for Matheus Cunha’s equaliser left a lot to be desired. In a team performing so well, the Brazilian’s spot is arguably under the most scrutiny right now.
Questions could be asked of Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri (Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
The other factor, beyond United’s own control, is what’s playing out elsewhere. Burnley have now lost nine of their previous 11 games and Scott Parker cut a more downbeat figure than ever after Saturday’s loss to Brighton & Hove Albion.
West Ham are winless in nine and failed to register a shot on target in a 3-0 loss to one of the worst teams in Premier League history on Saturday afternoon. They will spend in the transfer window, but, like Parker, Nuno reflected on his team getting worse rather than better.
Nottingham Forest have lost four on the bounce, but showed far more bite and verve in those defeats than the other two clubs. They are only four points behind Leeds, but Sean Dyche has not convincingly propelled his side away from danger in the way anyone there hoped.
Bournemouth, only one point ahead of Leeds, are winless in 11 and about to sell talisman Antoine Semenyo. They will surely reinvest but United have closed right in on them.
Safety is far from guaranteed for Leeds, but the simple fact is that they currently do not look like a team about to be relegated.
