Leeds United emerging pictures and a surprise Premier League number two spot for new boy
Three games is not a sample size that will tell any complete Leeds United stories but there are pictures emerging already from their early work.
The headline number of four points from three games is a solid one. It's all anyone could really have asked for when eyeing a first trio of fixtures that included both Arsenal and Newcastle United. The game at The Emirates didn't necessarily have to go quite as badly as it did but a 0-0 draw at Elland Road with the Champions League Magpies drew plenty of appreciative nods of approval prior to the international break.
All Leeds fans wanted to know from the season's opening stanza was that their team could be competitive at this level. Last season's horror show for the newly-promoted sides began as it meant to go on. After three games apiece Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich had two points between them. It was November before Leicester achieved double figures and after nine games Ipswich were sat with the number of points Leeds boast now, while Southampton still had two to their name. Needless to say, things could be worse for the Whites.
Key to their win over Everton and stalemate with Newcastle was physicality, the very bedrock of this summer's recruitment plan. Regardless of how disappointingly the window ended, it was always Leeds' intention to make themselves difficult to play against and 11 successful tackles per match, thus far, is promising in that regard. It's the fourth-best tally in the Premier League. Being successful in the tackle 64.7 per cent of the time also puts them fourth in the top flight. Where they're even better placed is in the reading of the game. Only one other club - World Club Champions Chelsea - has more interceptions per game than Leeds' 9.3.
Defensively, in two games at least, they have looked sound enough to have deserved their pair of clean sheets. Defending from the front has been important and Sean Longstaff is ninth in the Premier League for possession won in the final third. He is also ninth for successful tackles and his crunching display against Newcastle earned him Man of the Match plaudits.
Daniel Farke's men are mid-table for possession won in the final third, sitting 11th and they slip down the charts a bit further when it comes to fouls per match. Their nine per game is enough only for 16th place in the table. Discipline will be vital but it has to be weighed up with nastiness and there will be good fouls to commit this season. Being second bottom for yellow cards with three suggests that Leeds might be playing it smarter than most.
When it comes to possession Leeds have averaged 43.3 per cent but they have come up against a pair of Champions League sides and one of those games was away from home. Farke's key principle of trying to dominate possession remains in place but it has to be paired with realism this season. Leeds are not going to hog the ball against the very best teams, technicians and athletes the elite level of English football has to offer.
Where there is significant room for improvement is obvious, even without delving into the numbers. The transfer window itself, let alone the eye test, tells you that Leeds are lighter when it comes to attack than anyone at Elland Road wanted them to be. And albeit with a giant caveat of playing against two incredibly good opposition sides, the numbers bear out the early-season concerns. Leeds have created just four big chances. Only Wolves have created fewer in their defeats by Manchester City, Everton and Bournemouth. An Expected Goals of three puts Leeds 17th in the table, though they have scored just the once and that came from the penalty spot. Touches in the opposition penalty box have come at a premium. They're 18th in the Premier League with just 53. They sit bottom of the pile when it comes to shots on target per match with 1.7.
When Farke sits down with the media again this week to preview the trip to Fulham the club's transfer window and inability to add that one final piece of the puzzle will be the big talking point. Much of the hope around Leeds staying up is built on this idea of being big, strong and, organised but they will have to make chances and score goals. There are question marks all over the current attack. But one perhaps unexpected source of early light comes in the 6ft 5ins shape of Anton Stach. In the entire English top division only Bruno Fernandes has created more chances than Leeds' summer signing from Hoffenheim. Stach's 10 might not have been clear-cut, golden opportunities but he is making something happen in the final third. He needs someone else to make his something into something more.