Will Leeds blow it this year? The Championship has been a cruel mistress to the Elland Road outfit down the years but they are now top of the league after 17 fixtures.
It’s been a brilliant recent patch for the Whites who are hoping to exorcise their demons of last term when they were beaten to automatic promotion by Leicester City and remarkably by Ipswich Town who achieved phenomenal campaigns.
Daniel Farke’s men battered Norwich in the play-offs but came unstuck against Southampton, failing to even score in that defeat at Wembley.
Since then, they have bounced back phenomenally well. Their promotion hoodoo, for the second time in the last five years, could be about to end.
Gone is Crycensio Summerville. Gone is the skipper, Liam Cooper, and gone is talented teenager Archie Gray.
However, as their dominant 3-0 win over Luton on Wednesday evening showed, they needn’t worry about their departures for much longer.
Leeds’ best performers against Luton
This was about a dominant performance as you can get from Farke’s side who cemented their lead at the top of the second tier in quite some style.
This is a Luton side who have been way below par under Rob Edwards this term but they are a recent relegated team all the same. To beat any recent Premier League outfit 3-0 is impressive.
The deadlock was broken after ten minutes when Sam Bryam, an unlikely goal scorer found the net with a lovely scissor kick, before Joel Piroe – arguably flattering to deceive as the main striker – made things a great deal more comfortable by scoring just before the break.
Things were rounded off late on by substitute Dan James who is in quite the run of form right now having also provided two assists in the remarkable 4-3 win against Swansea last Sunday.
The goalscorers will no doubt get praise but midfielder Ao Tanaka was exceptional once more, registering 133 touches, the highest of anyone on the field and completing a whopping 113 passes, the second most on the pitch.
That second statistic was only bettered by captain Pascal Struijk who in keeping a clean sheet boasted 116 accurate passes and 132 touches. If that wasn’t enough the Dutchman also won seven duels.
Touches
132
133
Passes completed
116
113
Long passes completed
5/7
5/7
Duels won
7/10
4/8
Dribbled past
0x
2x
It wasn all plain sailing for Farke and Co but one selection dilemma, in particular, deserves attention.
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What to do with Brenden Aaronson
Brenden Aaronson’s tale as a Leeds United player has been a strange one, let’s put it that way.
Signed by fellow countryman Jesse Marsch when they were still in the Premier League, things began promisingly for the attacking midfielder when he scored a late winner against Chelsea.
It feels like from that very moment things have never quite worked out as the American would have hoped.
A loan spell in the Bundesliga last term did bring back some confidence, although it was a surprise when Farke decided to revive the player’s career over the summer, reintroducing him into the squad.
Last season he was involved in just four goals for loan side Union Berlin and to the 24-year-old’s credit he has already bettered that in Leeds colours since returning to the setup, scoring four times in 2024/25 and registering one assist.
Sadly, the USA international isn’t quite delivering at the moment and regularly frustrates the masses at Elland Road.
That was the story once more on Wednesday evening when Aaronson struggled despite the 3-0 win.
Farke suggested that his work rate was “unbelievable” but that delusion just provoked understandable groans from the Leeds supporters.
“He is always unbelievable with his work rate. He had the highest distance covered in the whole league of any player in any game on Sunday. We need in the centre a player who covers lots of distance.”
Ultimately he was not that impressive, handed an average 6/10 match rating by Leeds Live reporter Beren Cross who wrote that there were ‘some good bits and bad bits from the American’ which rather sums up his career at the club.
Minutes played
84
Touches
60
Accurate passes
35/41 (85%)
Key passes
2
Crosses
1/3
Long balls
0
Shots on target
1
Dribble attempts
1/3
Ground duels won
3/10
Aerial duels won
0/1
Possession lost
15x
Fouled
2x
During his 84 minutes on the field, Aaronson did produce two key passes but in a game where the hosts had 20 shots, only one of them came from his boot.
Perhaps the worst two stats where the number of duels he won (4/13) and the number of times he gave away the ball (15).
With Blackburn to come at the weekend, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in the starting XI given Farke’s praise. However, it should be the time to drop him to the bench.
Better options await in the shape of James, Mateo Joseph or Largie Ramazani.
Better than Tanaka: Leeds ace who made 116 passes was the real hero v Luton
The Leeds United man put in a fantastic performance against Luton on Wednesday.
ByDan EmeryNov 28, 2024
