Daniel Farke is facing a defining week as Leeds manager, with senior figures at the club expecting him to be sacked if his side lose home games against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Leeds were unfortunate to be beaten by Phil Foden’s injury‑time goal at Manchester City on Saturday but because it was their fourth defeat in a row and sixth in seven games patience at Elland Road is wearing thin.

Leeds are in the relegation zone with Burnley and Wolves, and Farke’s position is likely to be untenable unless he secures at least one positive result against Chelsea on Wednesday or Liverpool on Saturday. If the owner, 49ers Enterprises, is to make a change it wants a new manager in charge in time to have input over January transfers.

Multiple sources at Leeds have conceded that Farke’s fate is in the balance, although there is sympathy for him in some quarters owing to a belief that results have not reflected some positive performances.

The 49ers also have a stake in the ownership group at Rangers, who last week sacked the chief executive, Patrick Stewart, and sporting director, Kevin Thelwell, having removed Russell Martin as head coach after 17 games in October. The Leeds chair, Paraag Marathe, is the vice-chair at Rangers.

Leeds will have money to spend in January, with the 49ers ­desperate to keep the club in the Premier League, not least because they have committed tens of millions of pounds to redeveloping the ground, with architects BDP appointed to oversee a ­project that will increase the capacity to more than 53,000.

Farke came close to being sacked days after leading the club to promotion last season owing to doubts about his ability to keep the club in the Premier League, but after talks with the Marathe he was backed to start the season. Significantly, Farke was not given a new contract, indicating that to some extent he remained on trial.

Farke was backed with significant transfer money, with Leeds spending more than £100m on 10 players. The manager has bemoaned the failure to sign more attacking options, with the striker Patrick Bamford released at the end of August without being replaced. Some at the club have raised questions about the quality of the players he brought in with accusations he favoured physicality over technical quality.

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The midfielder Sean Longstaff and the left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson are regarded internally as the only unqualified successes.

The key recruitment adviser Nick Hammond left Leeds for Everton last summer after the chief executive, Angus Kinnear, had made the same switch, with the club appointing Adam Underwood from head of football operations to sporting director.