Finishing the 2020/21 season in ninth place was perhaps better than most Leeds United supporters could have expected of their first season back in the Premier League.
Not long before the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa, ninth in the Championship would have been reason for celebration, indicating progress following a year of stagnation under Thomas Christiansen and Paul Heckingbottom.
Now though, Leeds' priorities and focus has changed altogether, with thanks to the maverick Argentine, his dedicated staff and the backing of the club's ownership.
For that reason, ninth place did not look all that insurmountable when considering the patchy and poor performances of teams below.
Alignment between head coach, ownership, recruitment and the players fully buying into Bielsa's methods indicated this should have been less of a surprise.
Consequently, bookmakers are backing Leeds to steer well clear of relegation worries next season, despite tentative concerns over the much-fabled 'second season syndrome'.
SkyBet have listed Leeds United as 8/1 outsiders to be relegated next year, which would see them theoretically finish in 10th place.
This is due to the fact there are ten teams with shorter odds to suffer this fate than the Whites, including newly-promoted trio Brentford, Watford and Norwich City.
By comparison, the three new additions to the 2021/22 Premier League campaign are all odds-on favourites to go straight back down at Evens.
Meanwhile, according to the market for Premier League winner 2021/22, Leeds are backed in to finish in the top half again.
SkyBet list Bielsa's men at 150/1 to lift the title, strong outsiders, but with better odds than ten other teams.
West Ham United and Aston Villa have also been priced at 150/1 with the likes of Norwich and Watford out at 1500/1.
Interestingly, Leeds have been given a price of 12/1 to finish in the top four next season and qualify for the 2022/23 Champions League.
These odds are longer than the 8/1 given for a Leeds relegation, meaning SkyBet think the Whites going down is more likely than qualifying for Europe's premium club competition.
