Three non-negotiable Leeds United tasks Daniel Farke must complete vs Wolves — Leeds Live 16/9/25
Leeds United could go seven points clear of their West Midlands relegation rivals with a win
Saturday’s visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers was already a
big game for Leeds United but what happened in London at 4.50pm on Saturday
turns the pressure dial up a few notches.
Wolves are bottom of the Premier League table with no points
from their opening four games, despite scoring one more goal than Leeds have. A
win for the Whites would take them seven points clear of their expected
relegation rivals - a huge gap at such an early stage.
United need to bank as many points as they can before
November with a horrid run leading into December, including games against
Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Brighton & Hove Albion away,
Nottingham Forest away and Aston Villa at home are precarious preceding
fixtures too.
Not getting points on the board at Wolves would heap yet
more pressure on Daniel Farke and the home games against Bournemouth and
Tottenham Hotspur. Leeds have three non-negotiables against Wolves, therefore.
Do not lose
Well, obviously. But the point here is not to go three away
games without a point. Momentum works both ways and Leeds need to avoid getting
into a rut before it takes hold.
Winning is the ultimate aim but the main objective is not to
cede ground to a relegation rival, which would be far more damaging than a 5-0
thumping away at a title challenger. Losing at Wolves would signal just one
point gained from the last four matches.
It would also dent confidence and morale when travelling to
their next away game - which is against another bottom-three fighter in
Burnley. Turf Moor was a place Leeds failed to score at last season, when the
goals were flowing in the Championship. That leads onto the second point.
Just score
Again, this is obvious, but given Leeds have now not scored
in three league games, it is paramount that Leeds somehow find the net. A
deflection, a penalty, an own goal, a fluke - anything will do.
Ideally, the goal will come from open play, having failed to
do that so far since returning to the Premier League. But at this stage, within
the content of the match, Leeds will settle for anything.
In a perfect world, it will be an attacker who gets on the
scoresheet but it frankly doesn’t matter at this point. The thought of going
four games without scoring would induce fear about the rest of the season given
Wolves' meagre defence has shipped nine goals in their first four outings.
Attacking creativity
One area Farke must surely look to target is the wing.
Wolves play with a back three with wing-backs who like to venture forward when
playing at home. This creates space for the United wingers to exploit.
Noah Okafor played well against Fulham in the first half and
should be able to find just as much joy at Molineux on the break. Overall, the
front three need to offer more, perhaps with better help from midfield in this
regard.
The central trio turned the ball over superbly at Craven
Cottage but the link to attack was lacking. The final third play overall for
Leeds has been pretty lousy. There is a real opportunity here to drag Wolves
defenders out of position with the right movement and risk.
