Don Goodman rips into "daft" Leeds United situation with clear Daniel Farke backing | OneFootball

Leeds United can temporarily move to top of the Championship table with an emphatic win over Sunderland on Friday night

Don Goodman believes it is silly to panic over Leeds United’s start to the new Championship season.

The Whites have earned 15 points from their opening eight games, winning four, drawing three and losing one.

Daniel Farke’s side sit fifth in the table, and have more points at this stage of the campaign than they did 12 months ago.

The gap to league leaders Sunderland is just three points ahead of their Friday night meeting at the Stadium of Light.

A 1-1 draw against Norwich City in midweek saw them fall behind Sheffield United, who moved up to third with a 1-0 win over Swansea City on Wednesday evening.

Don Goodman makes Leeds United promotion claim

Goodman has claimed that he still expects Leeds to gain promotion to the Premier League this season.

He believes the 3-0 victory over Coventry City last weekend was an indication of what the team can do at their best, suggesting greater ruthlessness is needed in front of goal to continue winning in such fashion consistently.

“Any rumblings are daft, as they've got 15 points from eight games,” Goodman told FLW, via Grosvenor Sport.

“It's really not hard for me to say I still fancy Leeds United to win the league.

“They kept a real core of the players but I like the look of those that have come in and all of a sudden they've also got back to being solid at the back and difficult to play against.

“They ripped Coventry to shreds and Leeds can do that to anybody.

“Even against Burnley they dominated but conceded a breakaway goal.

“For Leeds, it's a case of them being ruthless and that's the way they've been in the last couple games.

“Leeds have dominated every game apart from the 0-0 draw at The Hawthorns at West Brom when the objective was to stay solid and keep a clean sheet.

“They've got big games coming up against Sunderland, who have won all three home games this season, and Sheffield United who are unbeaten this season.

“Before the Norwich game, I thought if Leeds could come away with six points from those games and maintain a two-points-per-game average, everybody would be reasonably pleased.

“They have one point already.

“My belief that they're going to win the league hasn't wavered, it didn't when they lost to Burnley and in the early stages of the season.

“They currently have more points than they did at this stage of the season last year.

“Leeds are in a good place.”

Leeds United’s promotion ambition

Leeds narrowly missed out on gaining promotion straight back to the Premier League at the first attempt last season.

The Whites finished third in the table, six points behind second-place Ipswich Town, before going on to lose the play-off final to Southampton.

Farke will be under pressure to succeed at the second attempt, with supporters eager to see their team back in the top flight again.

A win on Friday night over Sunderland could see the team temporarily move to top of the table, depending on the rest of the weekend’s results.

No need for panic at Leeds just yet

Farke’s team have started the season solidly, and there should be no need for any panic to set in just yet.

The gap to the top of the league is still just three points, and a win over Sunderland will move them into the automatic promotion places overnight, so it’s all still quite close at the top.

Leeds have performed well this season, even in their defeat to Burnley, so should keep showing faith in Farke and what he’s doing with this team.

If they can manage to keep getting results in the next several weeks while key players like Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev are out hurt, then they should remain most people's favourite to win automatic promotion this season.