Leeds United lost their first home game of the season on Saturday.
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Leeds United were made to rue wasteful finishing once again on Saturday as they lost 2-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Noah Okafor scored the home side’s only goal but efforts either side of half-time from Mathys Tel and Mohammed Kudus inflicted a first home defeat on Daniel Farke’s side for over a year.
Both Spurs goals came via deflections off Pascal Struijk and while Leeds huffed and puffed for a second, quality in key moments was lacking and defeat leaves them on eight points after six games. Below are a handful of the YEP’s key talking points from the game.
Leeds United making life hard for themselves
The step up to facing Premier League defences was always going to prove difficult for Leeds but by conceding first, they continue to give themselves an uphill task. Tel’s opener came after a strong start from Farke’s side and it was a little too easy for the Frenchman to carve a chance, with Sean Longstaff caught in midfield and one ball forward isolating Struijk.
Leeds haven’t scored first in a game since their 1-0 opening-weekend win over Everton and have now conceded avoidable openers in each of their last three games. The fighting spirit to come back is applaudable, of course, but Farke would much rather his side be battling to preserve a lead than chase an equaliser.
Playing the percentages with Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Leeds did equalise on 34 minutes and the build up to Okafor’s goal was similar to a leveller at Wolves earlier this month. Jayden Bogle’s deep cross found Dominic Calvert-Lewin but instead of heading in, his lay-off was hit by Brenden Aaronson, the rebound falling to Okafor as Spurs scrambled.
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Farke himself has admitted Leeds don’t have the individual attacking quality of their Premier League rivals but when you can’t cut a defence open, swinging in dangerous crosses is the great leveller. A good ball into the box sets up a 50-50 battle between Calvert-Lewin and whoever he is battling, which is the kind of percentage play they need to attempt more often.
Door ajar for Jaka Bijol’s full Premier League debut
Spurs’ second goal looked frustratingly similar to their first, with one single forward pass unsettling the defence and Pascal Struijk’s attempts to block ending in a deflection. While the Dutchman was not completely at fault for either goal, there is an argument to suggest he should have got closer to shot-taker on both occasions and he was given a 5/10 in the YEP’s ratings.
While that may seem harsh, football at the highest level is decided by fine margins and including Eli Junior Kroupi’s equaliser for Bournemouth, Struijk has come out worse from the last three fine-margin moments. The international break could present an opportunity for £15million summer signing Jaka Bijol to stake his claim for a first Premier League start against Burnley.
Wide options lacking amid double injury blow
A double injury blow is the obvious caveat but Leeds’ wide options are worryingly thin, with Okafor their only consistent threat but unable to keep up the pace beyond 50 or so minutes. Farke had one back-up winger in Jack Harrison and eventually had him at wing-back, with Bogle or James Justin the other side of a back three/five.
With two big strikers on the pitch in Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha, and Joel Piroe also on the pitch, crosses needed to go in but Leeds simply didn’t have the one-v-one quality to beat a man and work the space. It left them either working the ball across their back three or crossing from deep, which Spurs found too easy to defend late on.