Leeds United's incredible goalscoring record under Marcelo Bielsa - and how it has shaped the season so far

The club have drawn first blood on 17 occasions this season and 17 times they closed the game out. Their perfect record accounts for 51 of the 70 points they have on the board.

It happened again at Bristol City on Saturday, where Patrick Bamford’s ninth-minute tap-in settled a tight contest at a stroke, and Marcelo Bielsa’s lingering niggle about the number of goals Leeds produce has been tempered by his side’s consistency in protecting the ones they do.

Wigan Athletic, Rotherham United, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers are the only teams who have let Leeds off the hook after opening the scoring themselves. United’s players have noticed the trend and it feeds the merit of Bielsa’s insistence on dictating games from the outset. He will ask for the same commitment away at Reading this evening and look for his team to strike first again.

It is a night when Leeds can afford no mistakes; the last match before a derby against Sheffield United which is too big and critical to be overhyped.

There is precious little between the Yorkshire clubs and with Sheffield United hosting a Brentford side who do not travel well, the situation might be identical at full-time tonight: Leeds two points to the good with a near identical home record and a tally of wins away from home which is marginally better than the Blades’.

United won seven times on the road last season. Victory at Reading would be their 10th.

Their consistency owes something to the care with which United defend winning positions. Reading came closest to breaking their record of dropping no points after scoring first when they were awarded a last-minute penalty in a 1-0 defeat at Elland Road in November.

Leeds goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell tipped Mark McNulty’s effort past a post. Bielsa’s current number one, Kiko Casilla, made two necessary saves in the second half at Bristol City on Saturday but was well guarded for most of the afternoon.

Bielsa admitted that City “could have drawn” in the closing stages but it did not feel like a concession was coming.

Pontus Jansson, Leeds’ in-form centre-back, said: “We know that when we score the first goal we’re always going to win. That’s the mentality, that’s the feeling and statistically that’s also how it is.

“We have to be ready from the first minute and we were all ready (on Saturday). We scored an early goal and then we controlled the game.

“If you ask me, 1-0 is always dangerous because one chance and the other team can equalise but scoring the first goal is what we’ve got to aim for at Reading – to go out there from the first minute and take control.”

Reading are not quite the line of least resistance in the Championship but their season has been a wash-out.

Paul Clement was sacked as manager in December and his replacement, Jose Manuel Gomes, has made gradual improvements.

Gomes is Reading’s version of Thomas Christiansen, a little-known Portuguese coach who has held largely obscure coaching jobs before coming to England. Reading recruited him from Rio Ave, a top-flight club in Portugal.

The 48-year-old has done was Reading needed him to do by making them difficult to beat. The club were second from bottom on New Year’s Day and in growing trouble. Two defeats in 10, a run which brought three wins in their last five matches, has given them a fighting chance.

Reading hosted Wigan Athletic on Saturday and are at home again tonight. Leeds made a long round trip to Bristol over the weekend and were back on the coach yesterday afternoon after Bielsa opted to return to Thorp Arch in between two away fixtures, rather than remain in the south of England.

His line-up at Ashton Gate was unchanged for the fourth fixture running and Bielsa has given short shrift to the threat of fatigue. Jansson was also unconcerned about the quick turnaround and the time spent on the team bus.

“It’s so much easier to recover when you win,” he said. “You can go home and stay on the bus for 10 hours if you want because when you win, it’s easier to take it easy. It’s not a problem.”

Jansson had the job at Bristol City of tangling with Lee Johnson’s powerful Senegalese forward, Famara Diedhiou.

The Swede won that running battle hands down. He would have faced a similar scuffle with Nelson Oliveira against Reading had the striker not pulled a hamstring.

Oliveira will miss tonight’s game and is expected to be out for four weeks.

Jansson, who described his clash with Diedhiou as “a good battle – respectable from both of us”, has found form which is surpassing his excellent first season at Elland Road, one reason why Bielsa’s side are so adept at holding on when the lead is theirs.

Gaetano Berardi returned as a substitute on Saturday, back after tearing a hamstring in October, but there is little chance of him ousting Jansson or Liam Cooper from Bielsa’s line-up.

“I feel strong, I feel in a good shape and I’ve felt good the whole season,” Jansson said. “But that also comes from the players around you.

“Coops has been fantastic and Luke (Ayling) was really good (at Ashton Gate). Kiko was unbelievable, what a performance from him.

“It makes it so much easier to play football when you have people around you you can trust.”