Daniel Farke has never been one for grand declarations, which is exactly why this one landed. Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds’ Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Chelsea, the Leeds United manager set his sights on winning the Carabao Cup — and pointed out what comes with it.
“We try to win it,” Farke said, with the broadcaster reporting that the German sees League Cup glory as a route into European football for the Whites.
The Daniel Farke Carabao Cup message
The framing matters more than the soundbite. Managers of newly established Premier League clubs traditionally treat the League Cup as a chance to give minutes to squad players and get out of the building early. Farke has instead named the trophy as something Leeds are going for, with the European place that goes to the winners as the prize behind the prize.
It is not reckless, either. Leeds have already come through a round with the sort of performance that makes the argument for him, beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the City Ground in the second round on 25 August.
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge first
Ambition meets a hard test immediately. Leeds travel to Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea on Wednesday night for the third round, having been drawn away to one of the sides Opta’s updated projection places in the predicted Premier League top four — the model has Chelsea finishing on 60 points, and Leeds competing for Europe rather than survival.
Chelsea arrive off the back of a defeat at Arsenal on Sunday, with Moises Caicedo among a handful of fitness concerns for Alonso. Leeds, meanwhile, are unbeaten in all four competitive games this season: five Premier League points from three matches, plus that win in the cup.
The selection call
Wanting to win a competition and rotating for it are not opposites, and Farke has bodies who need football. Melvin Bard and Jean-Matteo Bahoya, the last two arrivals of a seven-signing summer, are still waiting on their Leeds debuts after sitting on the bench at Brighton. Ilia Gruev is in line to feature for the first time since April, per the Yorkshire Evening Post, and Gabriel Gudmundsson may be protected after completing 90 minutes at the Amex on his return from a muscle problem.
One name is definitely absent. Joe Rodon is out with a hamstring injury the YEP report could keep him sidelined for up to 10 weeks, and there is a fresh fitness question mark in the squad after a complaint in the warm-up at Brighton, with no player publicly named.
Why it will resonate at Elland Road
Leeds supporters have spent a decade and a half being told to be sensible. Consolidation, survival, stability — all the right words, and all of them a long way from a day out at Wembley. Hearing the manager talk about winning a trophy, in the week Leeds play a cup tie in west London, is the kind of thing that shifts the mood on the drive home.
The competition is also the shortest route the club has to Europe. A team that has not yet had to fight for its Premier League life this season can afford to be curious about it, and the Leeds United honours list has been waiting a while for a new entry.
None of which changes the job in hand. Farke’s side kick off at 8pm on Wednesday, and our full Leeds United team news for the Chelsea tie has the latest before the teams are confirmed.
