Daniel Farke can overcome Leeds United promotion stumbling block at Norwich City as midweek away issues highlighted

Leeds United can address one of last season’s early stumbling blocks at Norwich City on Tuesday as they aim to keep pace with the Championship’s early frontrunners.

Daniel Farke’s side are well-placed to cement their promotion credentials as autumn rolls in, having eased the early concerns that came from conceding six goals against Portsmouth and Middlesbrough. Four wins in five have seen just one goal conceded but that near-flawless run will soon be tested.

Tuesday’s trip to Carrow Road presents a second game in four days for Leeds and the first midweek Championship offering, with the luxury of a full week’s preparation no longer available. That quick turnaround has been amplified by a string of fitness issues as Isaac Schmidt and Ethan Ampadu join the growing list of absentees.

And so a midweek away-day presents the kind of hurdle Farke’s side struggled to overcome at this point a year ago. If there is a gut feeling that Leeds struggle on the road during the week, it’s because they do - or at least they did.

In the period up until New Year’s Day last season, the Championship fixture schedule threw up six midweek games for Leeds. Two of them were at Elland Road and both resulted in wins for Farke’s side - against QPR and Swansea City. But from four midweek away-days, the Whites picked up just one point.

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That sole point came at Hull City in September, but midweek trips to Stoke City, Sunderland and Preston North End all ended in defeat. Leeds scored one goal in those games and were a long way off the pace in all three.

Farke entrusted a core of first-team players to play in just about every minute last season and so those midweek games offered up a challenge, either running those players into the ground or rotating in those who weren’t sharp enough. The introduction of Ilia Gruev for a first start at Stoke springs to mind.

“We are used to it [the schedule],” Farke said on Thursday. “You have to be smart with it in training and recovery. Good habits, good nutrition. If you have some injuries, you have to make sure we’re all switched on in the best possible way. There is not time for proper team training. I don’t want to complain too much about it.”

Farke will be forced into at least one change at Norwich, with Ampadu unavailable and Ao Tanaka expected to make a full debut, but it remains to be seen whether other areas will be freshened up. Joel Piroe might hope to start after scoring from the bench again on Saturday, while Sam Byram and Patrick Bamford offer the experience needed to grind out results.

The run Leeds went on at the start of 2024 suggests Farke eventually got it right midweek, and an impressive 4-0 away-day win at Swansea City is evidence as such, but early-season struggles on the road saw them fall off the pace. They have a chance to right that wrong at the first time of asking.