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Sky Sports pundit outlines ‘most important thing’ Leeds United have answered after he ‘questioned’ issue

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Leeds United took another giant step towards the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Oxford United on Friday night.

Daniel Farke’s side are hoping to avoid a repeat of last season and avoid more play-off heartbreak by finishing inside the top two this season. They are on course after Manor Solomon buried Jayden Bogle’s ball across goal yesterday evening.

Position Team Played MP Won W Drawn D Lost L For GF Against GA Diff GD Points Pts
1 LeedsLeeds43 26 13 4 83 29 54 91
2 BurnleyBurnley43 25 16 2 59 14 45 91
3 Sheff UtdSheffield Utd43 27 7 9 59 33 26 86
4 SunderlandSunderland43 21 13 9 58 40 18 76
5 Bristol CityBristol City43 17 16 10 56 46 10 67
6 CoventryCoventry43 19 9 15 61 54 7 66

The gap to the Premier League is widening, but Leeds will be desperate to get there and collect the financial reward promotion brings as much as anything else. They need just a matter of points now to get the job done.

The players have an ‘ideal scenario’ for promotion in mind, as outlined by Patrick Bamford. Next up is Stoke City at Elland Road before facing Bristol City in another home clash. It could all be sewn up very quickly from here.

Leeds United v Southampton - Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Sky Sports’ Jobi McAnuff explains Leeds United and Daniel Farke strength recently

It threatened to be a pressurised game but one which many experts backed Leeds to win, but they had to do it the hard way with just a one-goal margin for the third game in a row. That sort of gritty display hasn’t always been Leeds’ speciality this season.

In the Sky Sports studio, David Prutton asked Jobi McAnuff post-match: “He [Daniel Farke] uses words like steel, grit, resolve, and relentless — it’s hard to disagree with any of those adjectives when it comes to Leeds right at this moment in time.”

McAnuff responded:  “Listen, it’s something we talk about every season with every team that gets promoted. They’re a fantastic footballing team. They score goals. They play football in the right manner.

“But, actually, push comes to shove and it’s can you go to the likes of these grounds and get a result? And dig it out at times where you’re not quite the fast, free flowing football.

“I questioned Leeds a few weeks ago. It was Sheffield United who were digging results out without particularly playing very well. What Leeds have done tonight, although they were fairly comfortable, it wasn’t the best performance in the world.

“But they were solid, they were hard to beat, they understood what they needed to do, and they found a way to win a game of football. At this stage of the season, that is the most important thing.”

Leeds United FC v Preston North End FC - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Pat Scaasi | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Leeds’ league wins this season broken down by victory margin

Leeds and Burnley can make history by breaking the 100-point margin from here, but Farke will be incredibly pleased with his team’s ability to dig in and see games out after throwing a 2-1 lead late on against Swansea City.

ResultFrequency
1-0x3
2-0x10
3-0x4
4-0x2
7-0x1
2-1x3
3-1x2
4-3x1
Leeds United’s 26 league wins breakdown

No team has won more games by two-or-more goals this season and you wouldn’t back against more during the final three games of the run-in, but a lot of the single-margin victories have come recently for Leeds.

A few more of those will see Leeds over the line — not just for promotion, but for the title as well.