Since Leeds United switched to a 3-5-2 formation, only five Premier League clubs have accumulated more points than Daniel Farke’s side.
It’s been quite the ride for Leeds since their return to the Premier League, but they comfortably stayed up last season and are now looking increasingly established at this level.
In the opening months of the 2025-26 campaign, Farke struggled to balance attack and defence as his side only took 11 points from their first 12 matches.
During those first 12 games, Leeds often lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, which often left them looking vulnerable in defence.
While Leeds lost that game in the last minute thanks to a Phil Foden winner, Farke’s side showed a competitive edge that they had been lacking in several of their previous games.
Since then, the German boss has stuck with the 3-5-2 formation and Leeds’ league form has taken a huge leap forward as a result.
They went on a seven-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League immediately afterwards, which was their longest undefeated top-flight streak since 2001. They’ve since beaten that with an even longer unbeaten run.
Leeds went on to comfortably secure their Premier League status last season, and they’ve continued to build on that progress in 2026-27.
Farke’s side have established themselves in mid-table, currently sitting eighth with 50 points from 36 matches. They’ve lost just twice this season, although a tendency to draw games has prevented them from making a sustained push towards the European places.
In the Championship, Farke often stuck to his 4-2-3-1 formation, but conceded that he needed to be more adaptable in the Premier League.
“When we were winning most games [last season], we did not change our base formation much,” Farke told Sky Sports last season.
“The top teams in Europe and the Premier League always play the same formation.
“But you have to bridge this gap of individual quality, you have to be more flexible. This was clear at the beginning of the season. For that, we have trained a lot in a three-man formation. I knew we are prepared to switch between it in each and every game.”
Leeds have climbed up the table and achieved safety with games to spare, while their latest 1-0 victory over Tottenham has provided a timely response after a winless run of games and some minor criticism of Farke.
That result keeps them ticking over in eighth place, with their remarkable resilience making them an increasingly difficult side to beat.
To illustrate just how good Leeds have been since the end of November 2025, here is the Premier League table since they switched to a 3-5-2 formation.
Note: to create this table, we’ve used our sister site Football365 and their brilliant Premier League Tables resource – a goldmine for creating and exploring custom tables.
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