Leeds United's whirlwind return to the top flight during 2020/21 took the Premier League by storm as the Whites presided over a late-season surge to finish ninth.
This season, the likelihood of such a strong finish is much slimmer given issues with injuries and a frustrating lack of potency in front of goal.
Nevertheless, Leeds remain clear of relegation trouble for the time being.
Upcoming matches against Aston Villa and Everton present the Whites with an opportunity to distance themselves from the bottom three.
Should Marcelo Bielsa achieve victory on the road over the next few weeks, and the team moves towards a healthier mid-table posting, there may be the argument that Leeds have little left to play for in their remaining matches.
Between now and the end of the season, Leeds have just 17 fixtures to fulfil. Eliminated from both domestic cups, the Whites are competing on just one front: the Premier League.
However, moving further clear of relegation trouble will not render Leeds' subsequent games less important - to the contrary, in fact.
Teams plan their summer expenditure depending on where they finish in the table.
For example, a club finishing 10th in the Premier League is likely to receive additional prize money somewhere in the region of £10 million compared to a team finishing 15th.
Approximately, each place in the Premier League table is worth £2 million in prize money, therefore a stronger finish, higher up the table will stand to benefit Leeds in the transfer market, or in achieving off-field goals such as infrastructure projects.
Victor Orta's task of identifying and pursuing realistic transfer targets for palatable fees is made more difficult by a poorer finish in the league table. The reason for this is two-fold.
Firstly, Leeds are liable to receive less in the way of Premier League prize money with a lower finish.
Secondly, until the club are mathematically safe from relegation, it is difficult to plan budgets, select primary targets and allocate funds for transfer expenditure if there is even the slightest uncertainty over which division the team will be playing in next season.
Additionally, luring Europe's best and brightest becomes increasingly difficult when the team they are being persuaded to join have underperformed the year before.
In short, finishing higher in the league stands to benefit the club for obvious reasons, meaning each of the 17 remaining fixtures Marcelo Bielsa's side will contest this season do matter.
