Daniel Farke will be sacked by Leeds – and this is when it could happen
Daniel Farke is clinging onto his job at Elland Road.
After 11 games, Leeds United are 16th in the Premier League standings and have lost four of their last five matches.
In their final game before the November break, Farke’s men lost 3-1 away to Nottingham Forest, who currently occupy the relegation zone between 20th-placed Wolves and West Ham in 18th.
Leeds’ form, compounded by the defeat at the City Ground, has led to major speculation surrounding the managerial position at Elland Road, especially as chairman Paraag Marathe toyed with the idea of sacking Farke at the end of last season after he won promotion from the Championship.
Leeds acknowledge results must improve – but that doesn’t bode well
Fabrizio Romano has suggested on Friday that Farke‘s position is not in immediate danger, despite growing fears that instant relegation to the second-tier is on the cards.
However, it seems as though that stance could change if results do not improve.
“At the moment, he is still under control,” Romano told GiveMeSport. “But, of course, results must change as soon as possible to avoid surprises.”
GMS adds that “it has been acknowledged behind the scenes that results need to improve“.
49ers Enterprises are confident that Leeds’ home form will keep them up, but the Yorkshire club’s upcoming fixtures paint a very difficult fixture.
As per the Premier League’s own Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR), Leeds’ next five games are rated 4/5 at worst, and 3/5 at best.
This means that, based on the data, there are no easy fixtures and two difficult ones, which are away against Manchester City and home against Liverpool.
What about Leeds’ relegation rivals?
What’s most worrying for Leeds is that no team below them in the Premier League table has a tougher immediate fixture list than they do.
Wolves are bottom, without a win, and have an average difficulty rating of 3.2 out of five for their next five matches.
Nottingham Forest and Burnley both have an average FDR of three, while West Ham’s is the same as Leeds at 3.4.
| Team | Premier League Position | Avg. FDR for next five games |
| Wolves | 20th | 3.2 |
| Nottm Forest | 19th | 3 |
| West Ham | 18th | 3.4 |
| Burnley | 17th | 3 |
| Leeds | 16th | 3.4 |
It means that not only are Leeds’ next five games, up until 14 December, are tough, they’re tougher than most of the teams down there with them, which could ramp up even more pressure on Farke unless he picks up some unexpected results.
Based on the murmurs at Elland Road and a busy festive fixture list on the horizon, there’s every chance that Farke could be out of a job before Christmas and Marathe and the 49ers are seeking a replacement.
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