Leeds United’s supreme rattling job on Chelsea has cracked the Premier League survival code | OneFootball

“Welcome to Premier League, welcome to Leeds.”

That’s how Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca described how the evening went for Estevao Willian, the most talented South American youngster Leeds United have faced since Ronaldo Nazario three decades ago.

Teenage phenomenon Ronaldo had missed PSV’s 1995 UEFA Cup trip to West Yorkshire, although he was fit enough to star in the second leg.

It was only last week that young Estavao was drawing comparisons to the great Ronaldo, and Neymar, having scored and outshone Lamine Yamal in Chelsea’s statement Champions League victory over Barcelona.

“He’s regarded as the best, brightest, most talented player to come out of Brazil since Neymar, with one or two advantages,” Brazilian football expert Tim Vickery told Sky Sports News, in response.

“He seems more stable than Neymar and so far has less baggage around him. The sky is the limit.”

You wouldn’t have known it from his anonymous display at Elland Road, shackled out of the game by Daniel Farke’s Big B*stards FC.

Evidently rattled by being two-nil down and barely getting a sniff, Estevao kicked out at Leeds left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson after being beaten, yet again, to the ball.

In the gloriously violent history of this fixture, it wasn’t exactly Norman Hunter vs Chopper Harris. But it was a petulant kick, borne out of frustration, with not even a pretence of trying to play the ball.

A more fussy referee might’ve dismissed him. Maresca decided that he needn’t reappear for the second half.

And therein lies Leeds United’s formula for survival. Three big men at the back. Two big men up top. Three tireless workers in midfield.

It’s not pretty, but it proved brutally effective at stemming a visiting side with more talent and infinitely more resources. More often than not, that’s the remit in the Premier League.

A #FarkeOut crusader might ask whether Leeds’ 3-1 win over Chelsea only prolongs the inevitable, giving the German coach more time than he deserves.

Someone with that particular bee in their bonnet might’ve drawn parallels to how an against-all-odds away victory to Liverpool kept Jesse Marsch in a job, which ultimately proved detrimental in the long run.

But that would be ignoring two clear differences.

First of all, Marsch was dogmatically wedded to his Red Bull-inspired play style. Sacrificing width and running around like headless chickens were vindicated, in his eyes, by victory at Anfield.

Secondly, that result was a complete freak. A smash and grab for the ages, no matter how Marsch might look back at it as a ‘masterclass‘.

It was not formula that Leeds could, or indeed would, replicate under the chipper Wisconsinite.

Farke’s win over Chelsea was a masterclass. A masterclass in adaptation. Leeds only had 29% possession (at home!) but largely kept Chelsea at bay, kept their shape diligently, and created the more dangerous chances on the night.

Every cog in the 5-3-2 system carried out their role to near perfection.

The 3-1 scoreline was neatly mirrored by the xG, Leeds notching 2.78 Expected Goals to Chelsea’s 0.96.

Even Maresca, famously salty after Leicester’s pair of defeats to Farke’s Leeds back in 2023-24, conceded the result was a fair one.

“They [Leeds] deserved to win the game, they were better in all aspects,” the Italian told reporters in the post-match press conference.

Farke can be stubborn. Often frustratingly so in the eyes of many Leeds fans. But this approach showed another string to his bow. Unrecognisable to the total domination en route to 100 points in the Championship.

Leeds have been crying out for another way to win all season. Now they’ve done it.