Leeds United know they will enter the November international break outside the relegation zone regardless of Sunday’s result at Nottingham Forest. Daniel Farke’s side are two places and four points clear of West Ham in 18th which presents a decent, if not thrilling, first quarter of the campaign.
Goals remain an obvious issue for Leeds, with only Wolves and Forest scoring fewer than their nine, but there have been plenty of promising signs defensively. The Whites have conceded 17 times in 10 games but can count themselves a little unfortunate to have a number that high against their name.
In fact, according to a metric known as Expected Goals Conceded (xGC) - which essentially measures the quality of chances each team has faced and therefore how many goals they were expected to concede - Leeds have one of the Premier League’s best defences. Take a look below to see which top-level outfits they are outperforming, as per FBRef.
1. 20. Burnley
Expected Goals Conceded: 20.4 | Actual Goals Conceded: 19 Photo: George Wood
2. 19. Nottingham Forest
Expected Goals Conceded: 15.9 | Actual Goals Conceded: 19 | Getty Images
3. 18. Manchester United
Expected Goals Conceded: 15.5 | Actual Goals Conceded: 16 | Getty Images
4. 17. West Ham United
Expected Goals Conceded: 15.3 | Actual Goals Conceded: 21 | Alex Pantling/Getty Images
5. 16. Everton
Expected Goals Conceded: 14.8 | Actual Goals Conceded: 13 | AFP via Getty Images
6. 15. Tottenham Hotspur
Expected Goals Conceded: 14.4 | Actual Goals Conceded: 8 | Getty Images