Daniel Farke's Leeds United warning despite celebration repeat after win at Sheffield United — YEP 25/2/25
By Graham Smyth
Leeds United's celebrations at the end of their last two
games recognised the significance of the results but Daniel Farke insists
nothing has changed.
A come-from-behind last-gasp win for the Whites at home to
Sunderland all-but took the Black Cats out of the Championship title race,
before a loss at Hull City left Regis Le Bris' men well adrift of the top two.
One week later Leeds did it again, coming from a goal down to beat Sheffield
United 3-1 at Bramall Lane and extend their lead at the top. They now have a
five-point cushion between themselves and the Blades, lead Burnley by seven
points and Sunderland by 13.
Farke, his entire staff and squad gathered together to
celebrate with supporters at Elland Road after the win over Sunderland and
there was another huddle in front of the away end at Bramall Lane on Monday
night as Leeds recognised the significance of their achievements.
But Farke's tune is not wavering in the slightest as he
tries to drive them on towards certainty of promotion in the final dozen games,
because in his mind nothing has changed.
"We are right now on 75 points," he said.
"Each and every point brings us closer to where we want to finish and you
have to keep going in this league. You have to show consistency. So of course,
if you play against the best sides in this league, and the last two games,
Sunderland or today, Sheffield United, the toughest sides to play and if you
win these games it's even better for the confidence, yes, but it's just three
points. So we were, whatever, seven points clear in comparison to position
three [Burnley] before [game day 34] and the same distance after the game. The
only thing that has changed is more or less one really difficult game less. So
there is no reason to fly or no reason to lose the ground under your feet. So
stay humble. Stay grounded. Right now, if you're in such a position, you also
want to make sure that you keep winning points and finish even better."
Leeds have only lost three games all season, have gone 16
games unbeaten and have bounced back from each of their defeats with at least
two victories. They have outscored the rest of the division by at least 16
goals, boast a goal difference 16 better than Burnley and have taken 44 from a
possible 51 points at Elland Road, where they still have six games to come this
season. From this position it would take a remarkable collapse in form to see
them drop out of the automatic promotion picture. Farke is still wary of sudden
shifts in the momentum at the top and cites the loss to Ethan Ampadu to another
knee injury as a negative factor to be taken into consideration.
"We are happy with the game tonight, but in this league
the momentum can change quickly," he said. "Also, you never know what
happens, you also always need a bit of luck. One situation, for example, we had
to miss our captain today probably also with a serious injury. Of course you
can compensate this, perhaps for one or two game days, but if it lasts longer,
then it could also affect your chances. So for that, there's no reason not to
stay switched on, not to keep going. We know we have to recover quick and smart
right now in order to be ready for
pretty, pretty competitive game on Saturday."