'I am confident' - Andrea Radrizzani believes Leeds United can start season afresh at Newcastle United

Four games into the club’s second season in the Premier League they’re still looking for a first win, having lost convincingly to title hopefuls Manchester United and Liverpool, defeats that sandwiched a pair of draws with Everton and Burnley.

The 3-0 loss to Jurgen Klopp’s Reds on Sunday saw Diego Llorente hobble off with the fifth injury of a stint with Leeds that began in the summer of 2020, while Pascal Struijk was shown a red card for a challenge that left Harvey Elliott with a dislocated ankle.

With German international centre-half Robin Koch already out injured, a suspension for Struijk would leave Leeds seriously light for central defensive options ahead of what is an important game against the Magpies, who themselves have just a point from their opening four games.

Radrizzani views this game and the September 25 visit of West Ham United as opportunities to move in the right direction.

“We hope to make points next time, we can get better, [we] hope to get three points against West Ham and start even from Friday with Newcastle, we need to start to get more results,” he told Sky Sports.

“I am sure we will, I am confident.

“We have tough starts, two very strong sides here at Elland Road, Everton and Liverpool, [but] I am still positive that we can start our season again on Friday at Newcastle.”

Radrizzani, who admits the start has been less than ideal, has made no secret of his ultimate ambition to return Leeds to European competition, in a redeveloped Elland Road, but the task this season is still simply to build the foundation for that dream by remaining a Premier League club.

“The difficult calendar at the beginning of this season is not giving us many options,” he said.

“We have only two points but we have plenty of time to get back to where we were last year.

“Our goal is to maintain the league and, if we maintain the league, we can build on our foundation.“We invested a lot in players last year and this season and I think the club is going in the right direction to establish itself in the Premier League.”