What’s Going Wrong with Leeds United?

After returning to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years, Leeds United enjoyed a superb campaign under Marcelo Bielsa, finishing 9th in the table. However, the following season has started on a bitter note as Leeds lost four preseason friendlies -- including a 0-4 thrashing against Ajax -- drew two friendlies, and only managed to beat sixth-tier side Guiseley. 

Despite a poor start to the pre-season, Leeds were not as active in the transfer market as they perhaps should have been, while other Premier League clubs were actively buying players to rectify their weaknesses in the transfer window. They paid 15 million euros for Junior Firpo from Barcelona early on in the window, and in the final week, they paid Manchester United 29 million euros for young winger Daniel James. Aside from Jack Harrison, who was on loan at Leeds, was permanently bought from Manchester City. The departure of Ezgjan Alioski, whose contract had expired, put Bielsa in even more trouble.

The ultimate result is what it would be. Their Premier League start was below average. Bruno Fernandes's hat-trick in the league's opening match led to a devastating 5-1 defeat for Leeds’ United at Old Trafford. Even The full Eland Road crowd failed to encourage them after a long period; instead, they went down twice against Everton, but managed to draw 2-2.

Leeds's performance against Burnley at Turf Moor was also unsatisfactory, as they were held to a 1-1 draw in a game that Burnley dominated for the majority of the time. After three games, Leeds is now in 15th place in the league table, with only two points. This isn't a positive sign. So far, they've conceded 8 goals while only scoring three times. Only Norwich and Arsenal have surrendered more goals than them, causing Marcelo Bielsa to be concerned.