Leeds actual find themselves with the same points total as they did after nine games last season

Leeds United have made a decent start to the new Premier League season, but there is a fear the positivity surrounding the opening months could soon fade.

Without a win in their last five league games, Daniel Farke's men have only tasted victory in the Premier League once since the opening match of the season. There's only been two defats in that run, the latest coming at Bournemouth on Saturday, but with the goal drying up and points proving hard to come by, a positive start has begun to lose a little of its shine.

Leeds actual find themselves with the same points total as they did after nine games last season, with an 11-point haul to their name. Unlike last season when that was only enough for a 15th place position, a year on they find themselves sat three places better off in 12, held out of 11th by Hull City on the amount of goals scored.

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It's a reminder that progress can be slow in the top flight and while some are setting their sights on a potential European place, Farke and the 49ers are still banging the drum regarding safety and ensuring reaching the 40 points total is the first target for the campaign.

A year ago Leeds had won three games, drawn two and lost four matches in their opening nine games. The losses are down this season, but so is the number in the win column with too many games drawn which could have been victories.

Where Leeds are better off is last year they were four points off seventh, which brought a European finish, while this year they are only two points behind Everton in seventh with the table a lot more congested as we prepare for the November fixtures.

OPINION

The key difference a year ago is Leeds remained on 11 points for the next four matches and it wasn't until match week 14 that they moved off that total with a victory. That means just one point from their next four fixtures would represent an improvement on the same stage as last season, with Leeds pushing for a far better return than that.

Only a horror run will deny Farke's team the chance to boast a year-on-year improvement and while tough games await against Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Coventry and Manchester City, a pointless return from those games is unthinkable.

Progress may be slow, but it is there for the taking nonetheless and whether it be one point or potentially 12 points better off should something special happen, Leeds look like behind ahead of last season's curve. That, after all, has always been Farke and the 49ers goal!