Leeds United handed seven-game chance to send major early Championship promotion message

They say a win can change everything in football and consecutive victories have definitely improved the mood at Leeds United.

The early feeling around Elland Road was one of concern after an opening-weekend 3-3 draw against Portsmouth that so easily could have been a defeat. Carabao Cup elimination at the hands of Middlesbrough, swiftly followed by news of Georginio Rutter’s impending move to Brighton and Hove Albion, did little to allay fears of the same mistakes being made 12 months on from the last time.

A 0-0 draw with West Brom failed to whet the appetite but it did settle down a team who had conceded six times in two games. A clean sheet followed by two more, and two wins against Yorkshire rivals to boot. All of a sudden, Leeds go into the September international break on solid ground.

That they are currently fourth is academic, with the league table not close to showing patterns after just four games, but eight points against a good spread of opposition quality is encouraging. Leeds have played a team with the momentum from winning League One, last season’s play-off semi-finalists, one of the most improved teams in the division under a promising manager and a likely play-off contender this term.

That is no easy run and to come through it without defeat speaks volumes, but Leeds return from the September break with a real chance to show their top-two credentials. Six of their next seven fixtures are against Burnley, Coventry City, Norwich, Sunderland, Sheffield United and Watford. The other, at Cardiff City, is a regular banana skin.

The starts for those initial six have been mixed but all will hope to be in and around the play-offs in a way the likes of Portsmouth or Sheffield Wednesday may not. Burnley’s perfect start ended with a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland and then Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers, but they have long been tipped as Leeds’ main rivals for the title and, after a chaotic end to the transfer window, can now spend the next week or so preparing for a trip to Elland Road.

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Coventry have endured a tough start to the season, as they so often do, but proved too physical and aggressive for Leeds last season, taking what proved to be a valuable four points from them. Norwich have similarly started slowly but have the quality to produce a result.

Sunderland and Watford are the two early surprise packages this season, the former still enjoying a perfect start to the campaign with four wins from four and just one goal conceded. Tom Cleverley’s Hornets were tipped for relegation by some but suffered their first defeat at Sheffield United on Sunday.

The Blades’ arrival at Elland Road October 18 would always have been a big one, but the added bite of a late-summer transfer saga is setting up a cracker. Chris Wilder moved to mention Leeds by name on more than one occasion regarding transfers, taking particular issue with a £13million bid for Gustavo Hamer.

There was a suggestion it was made in a bid to unsettle Hamer, and then the belief back up the M1 that reports of a player-plus-cash deal involving Joel Piroe had a similar motive. It’s impossible for anyone outside to know how true it all is, but Piroe was unmoved by the stories and looked cool as ever when slotting in Leeds’ second on Saturday.

That derby and the trip to Watford rounds off a tense period of football for Leeds, even at this early juncture, and a pragmatic Farke would warn against hope of that unbeaten run extending into November. But his side have a massive opportunity to assert themselves and go into a busy festive period as leaders, rather than chasers.

Farke stressed his side cannot be labelled as ‘big favourites’ for the title after Saturday’s win over Hull. But string a good run of results together over the next seven, and he may have little choice but to accept the tag.