‘We are Leeds United, we fear no one’ is a boast bound to get Whites fans beating their chests with pride, moreso when it is said by a manager with credit in the bank like Daniel Farke.

The German has steered Leeds to third place just past the quarter-mark of a Championship season in which anything short of promotion back to the Premier League will be considered a failure.

It has been a promising start, though not as strong as the one made by Friday night’s opponents Leicester City, who in winning 13 of 14 games have already opened up a 14-point gap between themselves and Leeds in third.

That does not make Friday’s mouthwatering clash a must-win game for Farke - “maybe if it was the 45th game day” he said in Wednesday’s press conference - but it will be a significant marker nonetheless.

Making it count: Time of possession will be key for Daniel Farke's Leeds United at Leicester. They have created more chances from less time on the ball than the runaway Championship leaders. (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)

Leeds’ own run of form is encouraging, save for the aberration at Stoke City last Wednesday, which allows them to head to the King Power Stadium determined not to be bowed by a team that has dashed headlong into rectifying their surprise relegation from the Premier League last season.

"We will travel with respect but not in fear,” said Farke, who believes his Leicester counterpart Enzo Maresca benefitted from taking over a relegated club three weeks earlier than he did back in the summer.

“We are Leeds United and we want to win points.

"Our approach will never be that we just park the bus and put the ball in the stand or over the stand and try to be there with a counter attack from 90-yards or a three times deflected striker, getting lucky off an opponent’s goalkeeper. No, we want to attack the games and be the protagonist.

Daniel Farke took charge of Leeds United three weeks after Enzo Maresca was appointed Leicester manager (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)

"This will always be our approach, we are Leeds United, we want to do this wherever we go and wherever we play.

"It’s still important to be good on the counter-attack because you have to be good in all periods and phases of the game, and if you want to be successful against a top side, you have to expect they will have a lot of possession and you have to be rock solid in your structure and then also you need to use counter attacks.”

But ball retention will be key against Maresca’s men, and to succeed in that, Leeds need to be brave.

Possession statistics for the season mirror the two teams’ position in the league - Leicester are first with 64 per cent, Leeds are third with 57 per cent, though the Whites have had more shots per game out of it.

"As long as you have the ball, you exhaust the opponent because they have to shift, and nobody likes to play football to run after the ball, you play because you want to have the ball,” observed Farke.

“If you don’t have stupid own goals, then when you have the ball the opponent can’t score.

"It increases your chances to win the game but it also not to lose the focus on the most important topic which is to win the game.

"They will be on such an important level and also periods where you find it difficult to press them, to stay in possession, and you have to be there with well structured defending.

"When I think about the last game against Huddersfield, we dominated the second half with I think 80 per cent possession. You literally can’t have more than we had but we were able to create chances out of each and every possible situation in the game.

"One of our strengths is quick counter-attacks, but not just after winning the ball in our box and going 100 yards, we are also quite strong when we win the ball in opponents half and have a quick but short counter attack.

"This is definitely also something we want to use but it is important to be rock solid in defending and use our winnings of the ball. We want to use counter attacks, and in the game against Leicester City, definitely.

"But it’s also important to be brave enough to press the opponent and not to be too impressed with them. It’s also not that we want to win the possession statistics and it is the same for them.

"It should help, we are not playing with so much possession just to win the statistic, it has to benefit us and lead us because it’s the best way to have the chance to win the game, because as long as you have the ball the opponent can’t score.

"If I’m honest each and every game, the topic is you need periods where you have to defend rock solid and in this game even more. There will be periods where you need to suffer a bit and show great heart and will to suffer, and accept the opponent is strong and will have periods of possession, but then to make the most of your possession.

"There’s never a guarantee you will dominate like we did against our last opponent in the second half but one key is to be there with as much possession as possible.”

Whichever team can dominate the ball, then, will be had to stop on Friday.

Leicester City v Leeds United: Possession will be key to deciding outcome of clash of Premier League hopefuls