Leeds United return to the Emirates on Saturday with the same underdog tag they carried into last season's visit but Daniel Farke spies an opportunity.

The Whites' games against the Gunners last season were outliers in Farke's eyes. Away from home they lost 5-0 and at Elland Road the scoreline was 4-0 to Mikel Arteta's men. The general picture of last season painted Leeds in a far more competitive light and they travel to London this weekend as the division's fifth-placed team.

"I think again we are not the favourite in this game, no question, but to be very honest, Arsenal last season was more or less the only team where we had no chance to win one of the games and we were not even close to it. It's a good chance to see if we have edged a bit closer and are also competitive in such a game."

Farke can point to the results his side enjoyed last season and so far in the current campaign as evidence of their improvement since they last ran out at The Emirates.

"I would say we definitely have improved, because it's also not a coincidence that in the last 10 or 11 months we are the fifth-best team in the Premier League in terms of points," he said. "It's not that we won the lottery to be right now in position five. It's not coincidence that we're unbeaten after a really impressive start to the Premier League, but again, we are the underdog and Arsenal's the favourite and especially under these circumstances."

The context to which Farke refers is what happened last time out - what he calls a 'little warning.' The Gunners were beaten 3-0 by Brighton and Hove Albion away from home.

"I'm pretty sure in the home game they will be on it and the whole stadium will buzz [after the] announcement of Mikel's contract," he said.

"So we have to be at our very best to be competitive, and then we see how far we've come. They are also the big favorite to win the title this season, and they were flawless before the Brighton game. It's quite often that after a game where they were perhaps not at their very best they're even more on it to show a reaction in the next game.

"It's the worst possible moment to play such a game but you can't pick and you take it. It's a good chance for us to show how far we have come over the last year now, and we travel respectful, but not with fear, and want to show a good performance. And we also want to fight for the points."