Early kick-offs have repeatedly brought frustration for Leeds United this season.
In seven early weekend games — now much more common under the terms of the new EFL/Sky Sports broadcast deal — Daniel Farke’s side have won just once, with Saturday’s 1-1 draw away to Preston North End the latest in a tricky run away from home.
Leeds’ sole early kick-off victory this season came last Saturday against Derby County at the start of what could have been a nine-point week. Instead, United finished with a respectable seven to at least keep pace with Sheffield United at the top of the Championship table.
But away form, as well as the curse of the television cameras in a lunchtime kick-off, remains a concern, with November’s 4-3 win over Swansea City their only victory in the last seven on the road.
There are mitigating factors. Winning away from home is always harder and even teams that eventually win automatic promotion lose more often on the road. When nearly every opponent sets up to stop United from playing (as is their right), there will be games when things do not gel and goals prove impossible to score. Leeds do create chances, with their expected goals tally of 1.82 per home game and 1.64 away reflecting the quality of chance they are still able to produce regularly.
Manager Farke will also look at referee John Busby’s decision not to send Ben Whiteman off for a challenge on Jayden Bogle in the first half, which resulted in Farke getting a yellow card for his discussions with the fourth official instead. Whiteman was already on a yellow card and appeared to follow through with a high boot on Bogle’s shin, but he did not receive another booking, much to the frustration of Leeds’ players and fans.
Even with those matters in mind, the fact remains that these are the games Leeds should be winning if they have Premier League aspirations. A pattern is emerging and Preston were able to limit Leeds for most of the game.
There were moments when individuals did not cover themselves in glory. Whether through complacency or the early start, United’s defence was too easily broken when Preston took the ball off Joe Rothwell and countered, with Milutin Osmajic’s arcing pass reaching Brad Potts to score at the back post.
Potts started the move on the edge of his own 18-yard box and bypassed Bogle to score past Illan Meslier, who will again face questions of whether he could have done more to stop the shot.
“They had one chance and they scored out of this,” Farke told Sky Sports. “We have to control the counter-attacks better. In this moment, we were too slow because sometimes we lose the ball on the 18-yard box line, but the move developed and our reaction was too slow. Our sprinting back was too slow, the ball can never go between the goalkeeper and our centre-back and we also have to be switched on to save those situations.
“This moment can be decisive if you give one chance away and they score the goal, especially against a really well-defending side like Preston in a home game on such a difficult pitch. So I was annoyed with this goal, but then the longer the game went, the better we were.”
As well as the Whiteman incident, Leeds were rattled in the first half and rushed in attack, with chances spurned by Brenden Aaronson and Joel Piroe. Away from home, a state of chaos does not suit United and Preston did well to create enough of it — both through disciplinary wind-ups and their own share of chances on the counter.
The need for a new No 10 in January continues to bubble below the surface; Aaronson’s decision-making and wastefulness in attack do not match the execution of his team-mates. A first-half chance sent high and wide from a good position looked like it would cost Leeds.
To their credit, United persisted and were much-improved in the second half as Farke went for it with 10 minutes to go. With the introduction of Mateo Joseph and Ethan Ampadu on 82 minutes, they went to three at the back and had all three strikers (Joseph, Patrick Bamford and Joel Piroe) plus the attacking arsenal of Dan James, Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani on the pitch as they tried to force an equaliser.
James, Leeds’ bright spark throughout the game, provided the ‘assist’ for the goal eventually awarded as a Jack Watmough own goal as he came under pressure from Joseph. It proved to be another impactful use of substitutes, albeit not attributed to Joseph directly, with Farke’s players getting the most goals from the bench in the division this season.
Preston’s players react to Leeds’ late equaliser (Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Resolve and patience will be key to bringing some balance to Leeds’ unfortunate form in early kick-offs and away games, but the result against Preston was another hard-won point in a challenging three-game week. While they maintain Farke’s target tally of two points per game, the promotion charge is still on course — even when the clock is against them.
(Top photo: Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
