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Leeds United 3-0 Wolves: Farke's men inch closer to safety and leave visitors on the brink

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Leeds United took a huge step towards Premier League survival and pushed Wolves closer to relegation with an easy 3-0 win over the bottom club at Elland Road.

After eight seasons in the top flight, Wolves' return to the Championship could be confirmed as soon as Monday, if West Ham avoid defeat away at Crystal Palace.

They looked like a team waiting to be put out of their misery on Saturday, as Leeds moved into a 2-0 lead within just 20 minutes.

Their 18th-minute opener was a wonderful overhead kick from James Justin, who reacted quickest amid a scramble in the area, after Dan Bentley made himself big to deny Ethan Ampadu from close quarters.

And Wolves were masters of their own downfall when Leeds doubled their advantage almost straight from the subsequent kick-off, with Toti Gomes' poor giveaway allowing Brenden Aaronson to scamper down the right and put it on a plate for the unmarked Noah Okafor.

Wolves improved after half-time and had a chance to reduce the arrears just after the hour mark, when Ladislav Krejci's header was brilliantly repelled by Karl Darlow.

Adam Armstrong also had a goal disallowed for offside, having just mistimed his run before lobbing Darlow, but it was Leeds that got the game's third goal in stoppage time.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin was pushed in the back by Hugo Bueno after good work from Ao Tanaka and Wilfried Gnonto, and the striker then dusted himself down to convert from the spot in the fifth added minute. 

While Wolves are going down with a whimper, Leeds are nine points clear of the relegation zone and have an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea to look forward to next week, after Wednesday's league trip to Bournemouth.

Data Debrief: Wolves on the brink as Leeds go back-to-back

This was Wolves' 30th consecutive game propping up the Premier League table, as they became only the fourth team to play 30 matches while bottom in a single season, after Swindon Town in 1993-94 (39), Portsmouth in 2009-10 (34) and Sheffield United in 2020-21 (31).

They have known their fate for a long time, but the result could prove pivotal for Leeds, who have now won back-to-back Premier League games for the first time this season – becoming the final club to do so in 2025-26.

The Opta supercomputer now assigns Leeds a mere 0.41% chance of relegation, with Tottenham (51.2%), West Ham (38.4%) and Nottingham Forest (9.9%) surely battling it out to avoid occupying the final spot.

Having scored twice in Monday's 2-1 victory over Manchester United, before registering a goal and an assist here, Okafor is the first Leeds player to have multiple goal involvements in back-to-back Premier League matches since Rodrigo in August 2022.

Leeds were deserved victors as, boosted by their late penalty, they racked up 2.78 expected goals (xG) from 17 shots, compared to Wolves' 0.54 xG from seven attempts.