Analysing Leeds ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash | OneFootball

An in-depth look at Leeds United ahead of this weekend’s clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Men's Team

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Heading into the weekend, we’re third in the Premier League with 22 points from 12 games while our visitors are 18th with 11 points.

With the help of Opta data, we look ahead to what’s to come…

Recent form

Leeds’ three wins so far have come against Everton, Wolves and West Ham, spread across their 12 games so far.

There have also been home draws with Newcastle and Bournemouth, meaning the win at Wolves is the only time they have earned anything away from home so far this season.

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They’re one point ahead of 19th placed Burnley but sit within just three points of West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Fulham in the bottom quarter of the division.

Preferred formation

Opta’s take on Leeds’ formation suggests they’ve switched most often between 4-3-3 and 4-5-1.

This likely depends on how attacking they are in the game and therefore how far up the pitch their wingers tend to be.

The back six has largely been set, with goalkeeper Lucas Perri protected by three ever presents in Gabriel Gudmundsson at left-back, Jayden Bogle on the right and Joe Rodon through the middle as well as Pascal Struijk, who has played 10 of 12.

Ethan Ampadu is the first choice defensive midfielder, with Sean Longstaff, Anton Stach, Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson ahead of him more often than not.

The central striker duties have largely been shared by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and former City Academy player Lukas Nmecha to date.

Manager

49-year-old German Daniel Farke has done much of his notable work as a coach in England, having previously spent four years with Norwich City between 2017 and 2021.

In that time, he secured two Championship promotions with the Canaries but found things much tougher in the top-flight.

He again took to Championship life brilliantly after joining Leeds in 2023, losing the play-off final to Southampton in his first year before a 100-point haul to top the Championship last term.

In the Premier League, he has won nine of his 61 games as a manager – giving him a win percentage of just 14.8% - the lowest of all permanent managers currently coaching in the division.

Head-to-head record

We have won our last four league games against Leeds, scoring a whopping 16 goals in the process.

There have been a total of 20 Premier League games between the sides, with City winning eight and Leeds victorious in seven.

Overall, we’ve scored 32 times in those 20 games and conceded 24 goals.

City have also won 23 of our last 25 Premier League games against promoted sides (D2), with Leeds being responsible for our last defeat in such a game back in April 2021.

How they score their goals

Leeds’ 11 goals scored so far is the second worst in the division, only ahead of Wolves on seven.

That’s come from an xG of 14.9, which is an underperformance of 3.9 when it comes to taking the chances created.

They aren’t afraid to shoot however, taking 146 so far – which is the eighth most in the division.

They are much more dangerous in the first half than the second, scoring nine of their 11 so far before the break.

Meanwhile, they top the Premier League for goals in the opening 15 minutes, having netted four times in that period.

Six of their goals have been set pieces, which is the seventh best in the division and suggests another side that focus on this as much as possible.

Lukas Nmecha is their top scorer with three, while Noah Okafor and centre-back Joe Rodon are on two.

Sean Longstaff, a box-to-box midfielder, is joint-top (alongside Jeremy Doku) across the whole division for Opta-defined ‘big chances created’ with six.

How they defend

Leeds’ 22 goals conceded is the fourth most in the division, but their xG is just 16.4 and the 13th best overall.

Again, this suggests another underperformance in the box as with at the other end of the pitch – with the 5.6 difference between goals conceded and xG conceded the second worst of all.

They are adept at preventing shots though, with the eighth fewest in 134 raining down on their goal.

More goals are let in during the second half, with 14 going in after the break and eight beforehand.

Of the consistent starters, Perri in the Leeds goal has the worst save percentage so far at 50%.