Leeds United's points tally right now compared to 2019/20 under Marcelo Bielsa | OneFootball

FLW compare the 2019/20 Marcelo Bielsa side to Daniel Farke's 2024/25 Leeds United at the point of the 30th matchday.

Daniel Farke is looking to emulate the good work of Marcelo Bielsa from five years ago by securing a promotion back to the Premier League with Leeds United at the second time of asking.

Unlike Bielsa, Farke has inherited a particularly strong group of players, with many remaining with the club following their relegation. Bielsa, meanwhile, was tasked with securing a return to English football's top-flight for the first time in over 16 years.

After coming so close in 2018/19 and crashing out of the play-offs, the Argentine's side won the league in spectacular fashion. Farke himself is no stranger to a Championship title triumph, having already won two of them with Norwich City. However, he will have to follow the same path as Bielsa after Leeds fell to defeat in the play-offs last term as well.

The race for automatic promotion from the Championship

It always looked like it would be an exciting campaign for the club in the second tier this season, with the Whites expected to be battling it out for promotion under the two-time Championship winner, and they are currently in the race for automatic promotion alongside the likes of Sheffield United, Burnley, and Sunderland.

However, irrespective of what Farke achieves this season, Bielsa will always be revered as the greatest Leeds manager of the modern era. He became Leeds' new head coach in June 2018 to replace Paul Heckingbottom.

Under his stewardship, Leeds played fast-paced, attack-minded football and attracted praise from all over the world. His era brought life back to the City of Leeds, too. However, a poor start to the following season led to his sacking in February 2022; but, not before he finished third, first, and ninth in his three seasons at the helm.

The enigmatic Argentine improved players individually and collectively, with many players in the squad unlikely to have ever played Premier League football without Bielsa's influence. Farke has also developed individuals this season, but also been handed a better squad and parachute payments to improve the side more than Bielsa was able to in the second tier.

Leeds face Frank Lampard's Coventry City at the CBS Arena for matchday 31, with more valuable points up for grabs in a difficult away fixture for the Whites.

It could be pivotal in the race to secure promotion this season automatically, and, potentially, for the title race as well, should Leeds secure victory. It got us thinking, how do Bielsa and Farke compare so far? We take a look, here.

Leeds' record under Bielsa and Farke so far

At the matchday 30 stage, Leeds currently have 63 points from 30 games, whereas Bielsa's Leeds had 55 points, with a 1-0 defeat at home to Wigan Athletic seeing Bielsa's team relinquish their grip on top spot and drop to second.

Shortly after this period of games, Bielsa's side pulled away in 2020 after the COVID restrictions temporarily halted the season, whilst Farke's side are currently on their own streak of unbeaten games, with 13 fixtures in all competitions and 12 in total in the second tier.

The relentless nature of the division makes that difficult to do, but on the current trajectory in terms of PPG, Leeds are projected to attain 97 points, which would see the club promoted automatically in every season since the Championship's inception in 2004/05, and win the title in all but five of those years as well.

With two-thirds of the season now complete, Leeds' performance data suggests they are operating at a higher level than they were in 2020, with Farke's side very much on track for a return to the top-flight.