Leeds United will be looking to continue their push away from the Premier League relegation zone, despite making no signings in the January transfer window.
Leeds made no new additions in the January transfer window, as they remain engrossed in the battle for Premier League safety, with the injury-ridden season so far having tested their squad depth to the limit. With Newcastle United and Everton making five signings, Watford making four and Burnley adding a new talisman to their squad, Bielsa's side will be under pressure to pick up results in the second half of the season.
January was a good month for Leeds though, with Bielsa's side picking up two valuable wins against Burnley and West Ham in the first month of the new year.
So, what could happen in the remainder of the 2021/22 Premier League season for Leeds? Could they surge up the table and earn safety, or will their lack of activity in the transfer market come back to haunt them?
Let’s see what happened!
We simulated Leeds' remaining 2021/22 Premier League season
To simulate the remainder of the season, we used the Football Manager 2022 editor to update all teams, managers and playing squads of all Premier League teams. We then simulated from the end of the January transfer window in-game until the end of the 2021/22 season.
We used the Football Manager 2022 editor to replicate the current Premier League table as it is in real life, with the correct results for every fixture so far in the 2021/22 season. All in-game statistics shown from our simulated season are taken between February 1st, 2022 from May 31st, 2022.
Kalvin Phillips averaged the best rating per game in the Leeds squad during the second half of the season, scoring three and assisting five in 20 games with an average rating of 7.4.
As he was in the first half of the season, Raphinha continued to impress, with the Brazilian scoring seven goals in 23 appearances, leading the Leeds scoring charts.
Bamford made his return to the squad and managed four goals and three assists during the second half of the campaign, but the striker was underperforming compared to his expected goals (7.18).
Leeds picked up crucial wins against Man City, Spurs and Crystal Palace as Bielsa's side looked to secure Premier League safety for another season.
Bamford scored the only goal of the game against top of the table Man City, as Bielsa's side held on to keep a vital clean sheet at Elland Road.
Leeds also came from a goal behind to beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and Spurs at Elland Road, with the latter result requiring an 89th-minute winner from Mateusz Klich.
At the end of the 2021/22 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Leeds XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is how the best Leeds XI looked in 2021/22 according to FM22.
Full Leeds best XI (4-3-3): Meslier; Ayling, Strujik, Llorente, Firpo; Phillips, Koch, Klich; Raphinha, Bamford, Harrison.
The likes of Stuart Dallas, Tyler Roberts and Dan James were all absent from the Leeds best XI of the season, with all three failing to make major impacts during the second half of 21/22.
Here’s how the 2021/22 Premier League table looked at the end of May 2022.
2021/22 Premier League table and results
Leeds finished the season on 42 points and finished in 14th place, avoiding the relegation zone by nine points.
This means the simulation predicts Leeds to pick up 20 points in their last 17 games of the season, two points less than they earned in their first 21 games.
Between March and April, Leeds only lost two out of nine games, including impressive wins against Man City, Crystal Palace and Spurs. Overall, our simulation predicts that Leeds will comfortably avoid relegation after a difficult season hampered by injuries to key players, despite no new January signings.
Bielsa's side would pick up crucial results against the likes of Man City and Spurs, as they looked to recapture their fine form from last season with the return of Kalvin Phillips and impressive performances from key players like Jack Harrison and Raphinha.
Would you be happy with this outcome at the end of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign? Let us know in the comments below!
