Monday Night Football marks the first managerial meeting between Daniel Farke and Matthias Jaissle, two of four German managers currently operating in the Premier League. Both have enjoyed unbeaten starts to this season. From the early knockings, it's clear Farke is sticking with his tried and tested formula.
A way of working that brought Leeds 47 points and had them in the comfort of safety by April last season. "It's important to use momentum in the right way," he tells Sky Sports from Leeds' training base. "We needed to freshen blood after a successful season but it's about evolution not revolution".
The blueprint is similar with subtle changes: Carry all the good things from the last campaign into this one but do so with added tactical variety. He wants to keep Newcastle, or any opponent for that matter, guessing before, during and after the game. That is part of the reason why no player in Farke's squad is deemed undroppable.
When pushed on that topic, he says: "It's realistic. You always have to deliver in the best league in the world. "If you think at any time 'I don't have to do the basics, I'm a superstar' then you are not good enough any more.
I'm a big believer in you get what you are willing to invest. "But if you know yourself to be doing one step less, or working with just 98 per cent, you are not good enough. The culture is more important than any individual.
Of course we have outstanding individuals, they have good chances to play every week, but every player has to show the best of themselves every day." The culture that Farke speaks of is geared toward establishing Leeds as a Premier League mainstay. "We're not addicted to one point per game," he emphasises, another distinction between last season and this. A point-per-game average used to be the yardstick by which Farke measured survival.
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