Daniel Farke believes the Championship’s finest defence will get promoted at the end of this season, whatever the means, with Leeds United presently leading the race.
Daniel Farke believes that defence is the key to promotion between now and May 4. The Leeds United manager is confident that the Championship’s strongest defence from 46 matches will be promoted at the end of the season.
It’s unclear whether those are the Whites. Leeds now leads the way in that metric, with only 28 concedes in 38 matches. Only three goals have been conceded in the last 13 matches, and if they can maintain that consistency, they will be promoted to the first division, according to Farke’s yardstick.
That does not, of course, rule out promotion via the play-offs with the league’s best defence. Leicester City have already sewn up one of the two automatic positions, unless Farke’s mind has changed since his February 17 comments.
After beating Plymouth Argyle in the league at Home Park, Farke looked ahead to the coming Leicester fixture at that time. He said: “Leicester is there with such a points tally at the moment, they will finish in the top two. For me, there’s no doubt about this, they will be there with automatic promotion.”
The league has, of course, tightened up significantly since then, but Farke does not make definitive comments like that lightly. The Foxes do currently have the league’s second-best defence, having conceded five more than the Whites with one fewer game played.
West Bromwich Albion are three goals further behind, but if they win the play-offs, they will fit Farke’s bill. In any case, Farke has set a clear and easy task for the Whites.
“The basement for success, 30 years ago and will be the same in 30 years, [is] if you are there with a good defending record you have a great chance to win championships and some silverware you celebrate at the end of the season,” he went on to say.
“If you look at the top teams in the league, you’ll notice that they all have good defensive records. As a result, they frequently receive accolades for their offensive work, as do we.
“We have some magical offensive players, and we are terrific at generating chances and scoring goals, but the bottom line will always be to be rock solid in defence. I’m pleased with another clean sheet, and I believe the side with the greatest defensive record will be promoted to the Premier League.”
Farke does not define whether he means in the top two or through the play-offs, but the point remains, and it’s quite apparent what he expects from them between now and May 4. Leeds haven’t conceded a goal from open play in 19 and a half hours of football.
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