Despite having an FA Cup quarter-final clash on the horizon, the objective for Leeds United in the next two months is to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
The Whites, who face Crystal Palace this weekend, are only three points above the relegation zone with nine matches left to play before the end of the season.
They are in a relegation fight with the likes of Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United, who have all been in the division for many more years and have more experienced players in their ranks.
This means that Daniel Farke‘s side will have to dig out as many wins as possible in the last nine games to avoid going straight back down to the Championship at the first time of asking.
The German head coach will be drawing inspiration from the last time the Whites managed to avoid the drop upon promotion to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa in the 2020/21 campaign.
The similarities between Farke and Bielsa’s Premier League teams at Leeds
Whilst Bielsa led the Whites to a top-half finish and relegation was rarely a worry during the season, there are some similarities between that team and the current side.
The starting centre-forwards of both teams is a good example. Patrick Bamford, an England international, enjoyed a breakout season and scored 17 Premier League goals for Bielsa.
This time around, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, an England international, has scored ten goals from 21 starts in the top-flight, after only scoring three goals for Everton in the 2024/25 campaign.
In the 2020/21 campaign, Leeds had five players who averaged at least two tackles won per game, including Kalvin Phillips, Diego Llorente, Ezgjan Alioski, Liam Cooper, and Luke Ayling.
The current side has four players averaging at least two tackles per match, including Anton Stach, Sean Longstaff, Gabriel Gudmundsson, and Ethan Ampadu, whilst Jayden Bogle is averaging 1.9 game.
Like Bielsa, Farke has his team pressing effectively to win plenty of tackles per game to disrupt the opposition, ensuring that games become a fight that they can compete in.
Under the Argentine boss, Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich caught the eye in midfield with their blend of defensive and offensive qualities, but Leeds now have a star who is a hybrid of them both.
Leeds have unearthed a Phillips and Klich hybrid this season
In the 2020/21 Premier League season, Phillips ranked third in the squad for tackles per game (2.6), but only scored one goal and provided two assists.
Klich, meanwhile, scored four goals and produced five assists from central midfield, whilst only making 1.4 tackles and interceptions combined per match.
Last summer, Leeds splashed out a fee of £17.4m to sign central midfielder Anton Stach from Hoffenheim, making him one of their top 15 most expensive ever signings.
Farke has hit the jackpot with the 6 foot 4 sensation because he has been a star in the Premier League this season, offering quality as both an offensive threat and a defensive force for the Whites.
He has the defensive attributes that Phillips once brought to West Yorkshire, winning 3.0 tackles and interceptions per game and boasting a duel success rate of 53%.
Stach, though, has the ability to couple his impressive defensive work with quality at the top end of the pitch. The German star has scored four goals and provided three assists in the Premier League, closing in on Klich’s tally of goal contributions in the 2020/21 season.
The 27-year-old midfield monster has also created nine ‘big chances’ in the division, suggesting that he has been let down by poor finishing from his teammates, and no other player in the squad has created more.
|
25/26 PL |
Stach |
Leeds rank |
|---|---|---|
|
Tackles per game |
2.3 |
2nd |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
3.0 |
2nd |
|
Goals |
4 |
3rd |
|
Assists |
3 |
1st |
|
Big chances created |
9 |
1st |
|
xA |
4.02 |
1st |
He ranks highly among his teammates in a host of key defensive and offensive statistics in the Premier League this season, which illustrates how impactful he can be at both ends of the pitch.
Stach is a hybrid of Phillips and Klich because he has the dominant and tough-tackling presence in midfield that the former brought to Bielsa’s side, whilst carrying a similar offensive threat to the latter.
Farke and the club have hit the jackpot with the German star, who is currently on course to help the team to avoid relegation, and they should look back on the £17.4m spent on his services as a bargain.
Hopefully, Stach continues to impress in the middle of the park and is part of a team that successfully avoids relegation back to the second tier, as their monster in the middle of the park.
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