Leeds ‘were the dominant side’ against Man Utd, says Farke

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Daniel Farke believes Leeds United were “dominant” for long stretches against Manchester United, noting his players were slightly disappointed to settle for a draw on Sunday.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s opener as the old rivals drew 1-1 at Elland Road, though it was Leeds who had the better chances to win the contest in the second half. 

Leeds are now unbeaten in their last three Premier League matches against Man Utd (W1 D2), their joint-longest unbeaten run against the Red Devils in the competition, along with another run of three between September 1994 and December 1995.

They tallied 12 shots to their visitors’ 13, but their chances were of a higher quality as they amassed 1.44 expected goals (xG) to Man Utd’s 0.91 – 1.18 of Leeds’ tally came from set-pieces as they dominated on a physical level.

And speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, Farke was left to rue missed second-half chances from the likes of Ao Tanaka, Noah Okafor and Anton Stach. 

“We were the dominant side today, but sadly we could not fully capitalise on it because we lacked quality around the opponents’ box,” Farke said. 

Harry Maguire said in his post-match interview that Man Utd had attempted to match Leeds’ 3-4-3 system.

When asked about that tweak from Michael Carrick, Farke said: “It says a lot about how much respect we’ve earned, but it is no coincidence. 

“We’re unbeaten at home and haven’t suffered too many losses over the last three years.

“It says a lot about how far we’ve come that we are slightly disappointed it was just a point against Manchester United. 

“Overall, it was not necessary to be in a losing position at half-time, but it is still Manchester United – they have unbelievable individual quality up front. ”

Muharemović x Calvert-Lewinnnnnnn Get in there!!!! #leedsunited https://t.co/mYuXOWSfrp

— Leeds United (@LUFC) October 18, 2026

Calvert-Lewin’s goal was his 12th for Leeds in the Premier League at Elland Road, with only Erling Haaland (19) and Igor Thiago (14) scoring more home goals in the competition since his first home match for the club.

Many pundits, and indeed, the Opta supercomputer, tagged Leeds as pre-match favourites against an out-of-form Man Utd side, but Calvert-Lewin said the hosts had done well to shut out that noise.

“It was important that we didn’t read too much into it. They are still a good team with a lot of quality. It is just general football stuff, isn’t it?,” he said. 

“You have Sky Sports News on; you hear what’s going on in the football world, but we are so used to it as players that it is important you pay no mind to it and focus on the game.”

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