​The final whistle blew and then, as is the case at Elland Road, the Kaiser Chiefs’ ‘I Predict A Riot’ began to blare out across the Yorkshire sky. It was a letter away from being accurate. Riot? This was a rout. Leeds United have not had a bigger Premier League win at Elland Road since a 6-1 demolition of Bradford a quarter of a century ago. This was a thrashing of Newcastle, who were flattered by the eventual scoreline, and, before he conducted his usual lap of Elland Road, applauding the fans, Daniel Farke stood just outside the penalty box, seemingly in contemplation, wondering, perhaps, how far Leeds have come and how far they may go. “We have to dream big and think big,” said Farke. “We have created a winning culture within this club and high standards. We don’t have the best individual quality but we can be an outstanding team,” he added. The perfectionist in him meant it led to a post-match rebuke for his captain Ethan Ampadu, for the goal conceded to Bazoumana Toure in the 90th minute. It grated him. Leeds have the sense of a team who could end the campaign with one of the best defensive records; one of the best home records, too. Early-season tables can be deceptive or irrelevant, but they can also be markers of things to come. Leeds had not been in the top three of the Premier League after at least four games of a campaign since Terry Venables’ team of 2002, fuelled by the goals of Harry Kewell, Alan Smith and Mark Viduka. They had been to the third tier in the meantime. Now they are third. Newcastle, whose own revival in recent years had brought Champions League football, were destroyed by a team who are improving every year. Farke will get a new contract and, as talks progress, he must be tempted to ask for some European bonuses. Such clauses would have been irrelevant for most of his predecessors. Leeds have visited Hartlepool and Yeovil as peers more recently than they have competed on the continent. Can Leeds keep it up? They already have done, to some extent. Their six-goal collapse at Chelsea in the Carabao Cup was the exception. In the Premier League, only four teams have more points in 2026. Leeds have only lost five of their last 29 top-flight games. They are one of the hardest teams to beat in the toughest league in the world. “The consistency is remarkable and should give us confidence,” said Farke. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was a force for Leeds having scored one goal and set up another as the host scored three times before half-time (Getty)Leeds have become everything his Norwich were not in their ill-fated ventures into the upper tier, when they seemed too frail. His Leeds are powerful, purposeful, physical. Another manager from the German school of pressing, Matthias Jaissle, wants to play high-paced football. His Newcastle were crushed at Elland Road, his first defeat a bruising battering. “We couldn’t bring the fundamentals, duel behaviour, the intensity of Leeds we could not match,” said Jaissl