Leeds United Premier League questions answered and as unknowable factor looms at Chelsea at least one prediction is safe - Graham Smyth

We knew they would press and play out from the back, we suspected that the gameplan would remain the same even against the very best attacking sides and we hoped it would work.

There were just too many unknowable factors to make predictions with any kind of certainty.

How would 20-year-old goalkeeper Illan Meslier cope with the top flight? What about Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas? Would Kalvin Phillips be as dominant a force against attackers with a bit more guile, flair and pace than their Championship counterparts? Could Mateusz Klich play full throttle for 90 minutes week after week against elite athletes? Would Patrick Bamford handle the step up in competition? How quickly could the necessary additional quality, in the form of Rodrigo and Raphinha, settle in and learn the system? And would Bielsaball be effective against the best defenders in English football?

The early signs have been encouraging enough to say, without too much fear of attracting egg to your face, that Leeds are coping just fine in the Premier League and will still be there next season.

Despite the expected storms brought by very good teams and top-class opposition players, Leeds’ landing has been surprisingly pleasant.

The first indication that expectations might need to be raised ever so slightly came at Anfield when Leeds’ method of attacking worked against the champions just as it had at the KCOM against the doomed Hull City.

Collectively, Leeds have made as good a start as anyone could have asked for and, individually, certain players have shone and most have been perfectly adequate.

Meslier has been excellent, proving himself at the highest level in a way he didn’t often have to in the Championship, where the Leeds defence gave up so little and largely protected him.

When exposed against Arsenal and Everton, he displayed superb shot-stopping ability and more than deserved his clean sheets. His age and potential suggest that Victor Orta should have been wearing a mask when Leeds agreed to pay just £5m or so for his services.

Phillips’ statement performance at Goodison Park, against a team boasting some scary attacking threats, was a joy to behold and might have told the player himself as much about his potential as Gareth Southgate and anyone else.

Pundits wasted little time in selling him off to other clubs after the win over Everton, so good was his overall display.

Bamford has seven goals in 10 games and, although he should have added to that against Everton, he continues to do the rest of the role well and pops up in the right place to score with enough regularity to tick Bielsa’s boxes.

Mateusz Klich is thriving, making chances and clever passes, Dallas is as reliable as ever and both Rodrigo and Raphinha are justifying the excitement their arrivals generated by producing moments that would have every bum off its seat at Elland Road.

The Brazilian’s initial £17m price tag already screams bargain and all that is missing at present is the buzz that will fill the air when he gets the ball in front of thousands of Whites.

Therein lies the great shame of it all and the most easily predicted theme of the club’s return to the top flight – that this eye-catching football and these excellent results are happening in empty grounds, permeating anything nice with sadness.

For Leeds fans, the sadness will remain this weekend when the team travel to Chelsea but, for the first time since March, the game will have an audience and give us another unknowable factor to consider.

The performance of some players – Dallas says he is among them – is not affected by the presence or absence of supporters yet there may be others in the Leeds squad – we’re looking at you Ayling, Bamford and Klich – who might just get a little extra kick out of getting a rise from some Chelsea fans and creating an atmosphere, albeit a partisan, hostile one.

Those 2,000 are the lucky ones because the attacking intent Bielsa has instilled in Leeds United and the attacking riches possessed by Frank Lampard make this game a potential, almost predictable, classic.