FourFourTwo's comprehensive Leeds United Season Preview is here: Can the Yorkshire club do what the last six newly-promoted teams haven't managed and stay up?
FourFourTwo's Leeds United Season Preview
FFT's view
The Plan
There’s one very simple goal for Leeds United, and that is: Don’t Do What The Last Six Promoted Teams Have Done. There are some side quests, such as hoping that finishing 17th puts us above Manchester United, but surviving the first season back in the Premier League is the priority. It’s not the only pressure, though.
CHAMPIONSHIP Winners
FA CUP Fourth Round
LEAGUE CUP First Round
TOP SCORER (ALL COMPS) Joel Piroe (19)
The club’s history is such that promotions in 1964 and 1990 were preludes to glory, and the club’s ego is such that we always look at the top half of the table. The brain tells us that avoiding relegation is everything. Our whole chest says we should be going for Europe, if not winning the title. No pressure? No. Lots of pressure!
The Coach
Daniel Farke had some worried fans calling for his head even towards the end of a second season of Leeds scoring plenty, conceding few and passing the football. The doubt over his two Premier League failures with Norwich persists, so his grace period this term will be short.
Key Player
Dan James hasn’t had it easy: a delayed transfer, then farmed out to Fulham, before losing play-off finals with Wales and Leeds, missing a penalty in one and earning a big forehead scar in the other. His stellar 2024-25 (he ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo's list of the 50 best players in the Foootball League) was a reward for perseverance and an improved end product.
Lesson From Last Year
You can support a goalkeeper too much, perhaps – Illan Meslier was the primary (some would say only) reason Leeds weren’t promoted by March. But all was forgotten in the final few weeks as fans took in promotion, the title and a delirious parade through the city, which gave Leeds the reminder of what was missed during the COVID-affected triumph of 2020.
This preview originally appeared in FourFourTwo's Season Preview issue which went on sale in July, available here with free delivery
As the Malibu-fuelled open-top bus inched through the crowds, the potential of Leeds as a one-club Premier League city came rushing back from the Millennium. Plans for redeveloping Elland Road, too, are making supporters feel as if the Peacocks are finally about to move into the 21st century.
The Mood
Trying to play it cool, but desperate for this season to go well. The disaster of 2022-23, with its four horsemen of the apocalypse in Jesse Marsch, Michael Skubala, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce, is a haunting recent memory.
The One To Watch
Japan international Ao Tanaka was a revelation in midfield after signing from Fortuna Dusseldorf for basically nothing [well, £3m or so – Ed.]. Declan Rice shouted him out and fans want Leeds to build a team around him. He handled the switch from 2. Bundesliga to the Championship with ease; this step up may be a little trickier.
Most Likely To...
…punch his own team-mate, the ground, or maybe even himself: Leeds’ easily antagonised and emotionally demonstrative centre-back, Joe Rodon.
TITLE ODDS 750/1
Least Likely To...
…be punched by Joe Rodon: Ethan Ampadu. The Welsh Unity at Leeds has been a big part of the past two campaigns, and club captain Ampadu exudes the calm you’d expect from a 24-year-old with 56 international caps.
FFT Verdict
18TH To survive this top-flight landscape, Leeds need their city’s trademark bravado. And a better goalkeeper.
The Number Cruncher
The Fan View
We asked author, journalist and Leeds fan Joe Mewis to predict the future with his Elland Road 2025-26 forecast...
Last season was a lot more stressful than I ever thought a 100-point campaign would be. Dropping out of the top two in April triggered memories of past failures. But here’s to Chris Wilder, whose Sheffield United side then collapsed for us.
The big talking point is whether Farke is the man for the Premier League. It is hard to argue with 190 points in two seasons, but his top-tier record is poor.
If he left, he should be replaced by Red Bull Head of Global Soccer, Mr Klopp.
Our most underrated player is Ilia Gruev, who quietly brought another level of control to midfield.
Look out for Harry Gray. The 16-year-old striker is the next cab off the rank in the Leeds United-Gray dynasty. Judging by the way he threw himself into the celebrations, he’s a tad more outgoing than his big brother, Archie.
The opposition player I’d love here is Erling Haaland. Don’t let that nine-and-a-half-year City deal fool you – he’s Leeds through and through.
Fans think our owner is a big improvement on many of 49ers Enterprises’ predecessors, but the Red Bull involvement will never sit easy.
The one change I’d make would be to see actual, tangible progress on the stadium redevelopment. Too many false dawns.
I’m most looking forward to visiting Anfield, given that our new redevelopment plans have more than a passing similarity to Liverpool’s expanded stands.
We’ll finish 16th.
This preview originally appeared in FourFourTwo's Season Preview issue which went on sale in July, available here with free delivery
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