It was a stunning return to the Premier League by Leeds in 2020-21 — but their second season has failed to set alight so far.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men are winless in the top flight after two draws and two heavy defeats at the hands of Manchester United and Liverpool.

The Whites finished ninth last season by playing on the front foot against every team they faced but the 11 goals they have already shipped makes for grim reading.

Ahead of Leeds’ game against Newcastle this evening, we assess whether their struggles are just a blip or a cause for serious concern.

Second season syndrome?

Justly or unjustly, second season syndrome is a phenomenon often thrown around when promoted sides who performed well in their first season stutter in their follow-up campaign.

You only need to cast your eyes back to last term to find a prime example.

Sheffield United defied pre-season Premier League table predictions all over the country by finishing ninth on their top-flight return.

But it was a much different story the following campaign, finishing rock bottom and suffering the drop after failing to pick up a victory in their first 17 games.

It is not an isolated case, either. 

Ipswich (2001-02), Reading (2007-08) and Birmingham (2010-11) are three other sides who came back down to earth with a bump.

Marcus Stewart — Ipswich’s main striker during those two seasons under George Burley — admitted the element of surprise had disappeared in their fateful second season.

He told the Athletic: "I believe other teams worked us out. Suddenly, they knew how to stop us. Losing that surprise factor was huge for Ipswich. Probably the same with Sheffield United."

Despite this, Leeds can take heart from the recent successes of Leicester, Wolves and Burnley during their second seasons to show it can work the other way, too.

Defensive chaos

Leeds’ defensive openness is no new thing. Elland Road saw the most goals in the division last season, while their 54 goals conceded was the seventh most despite finishing in the top half.

With the added volume of a packed out stadium, the chaos seems to have been upped too.

Despite Bielsa’s insistence on playing this way, even he will have been concerned at the manner some of the goals conceded.

Against Liverpool, Joel Matip was allowed the freedom of Elland Road to pick out Trent Alexander-Arnold, who teed up Mohamed Salah to open the scoring, before Virgil van Dijk had an unmarked header to allow Fabinho to stab home the second following a scramble in the box.

They allowed the Reds to have 30 shots at goal — the joint-most in any game this season.

This season Leeds have allowed 13 efforts inside the box per 90 minutes — the second most in the top flight — compared to 9.05 last term.

While they are always an entertaining watch, getting rolled over by teams such as Liverpool and United — who put five past them earlier this season — has become all too common.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp said: "Leeds were outclassed. I love watching them play, but sometimes you have to find another way [to win].

"Bielsa has done such a wonderful job with this team, but you have to find ways to play where you are a bit more difficult to beat."

Creative block

The great leveller to their defensive frailties has always been their relentless attacking quality but even that has not been the same this season.

If the four goals Leeds have scored in their first four games this season is a little uninspiring, it is hardly alarming.

But when you consider the Whites already had nine at this point last season, including three in a game against Liverpool, there is reason to suggest their potency might be off.

The statistics show creative players such as Raphinha, Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford are not causing the same problems they were last term.

Last season, they created a sixth-most 10.37 chances per game. This time out, it has dropped to nine — ranking 10th.

The lack of creativity is something Bielsa has picked up on in recent weeks.

After the defeat to Liverpool, he said "It was difficult for us to put passes together. Our creative players did not perform. But what I am unsatisfied with is my own performance.

"I cannot be satisfied with how I have managed these games [so far this season]. We were too far away from Manchester (United) and Liverpool to compete on equal positions. The results were fair."

Sticking to plan A

Leeds were not without their drubbings last season but those results did not end up defining their challenge.

The 6-2 demolition by Man United, 4-1 reverse to Leicester and the 3-0 loss at Tottenham ended up being elementary to their impressive overall performance.

While Newcastle will likely see a further makeshift XI for Leeds with centre-backs Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Pascal Strujik all missing, they will return in the coming weeks to add more stability.

And Bielsa’s stance is as clear as it always has been — a few bad results will not see a change in their approach.

In his pre-game press conference, he said: "When something is broken or suffers, there are two options. Either you throw it away and change it for another or you look after it and you try to recompose it, put it back together.

"There is only four games that have been played, it is a bit premature to do that when adversity visits."

A positive result against Newcastle could be the first step in repairing the damage.