Leeds United entertained Aston Villa at Elland Road earlier this evening, hoping to pick up a win at home. The visitors took the lead 5 minutes into the game as Anwar El Ghazi beat the offside trap to put the ball past Illan Meslier. The Whites couldn’t create enough meaningful chances to break down Villa’s defence despite having 70% of the possession as the match ended 1-0.
Let’s take a look at how each Leeds player performed during the clash against the Villans.
GK: Illan Meslier – 6/10
The French shot-stopper put up a decent performance in between the sticks tonight. There’s nothing he could have done about the first goal.
RCB: Diego Llorente – 6.5/10
The Spanish centre-back made some crucial interceptions to help his side at the back.
CB: Luke Cooper – 6.5/10
Barring the first goal, he looked solid at the back. He won the ball back on several occasions and co-ordinated well with Diego Llorente for most of the game.
LCB: Pascal Strujik – 5/10
Struijk operated as the defensive midfielder for most of the match, but his decision making when in possession was very poor.
RCM: Luke Ayling – 6.5/10
The English full-back failed to produce his best tonight. He often made some ambitious attacking runs, but they had little to no output. However, he displayed a very high work-rate to fall back and defend when required.
CM: Mateusz Klich – 4/10
The Polish international failed to have any sort of impact on the game.
LCM: Stuart Dallas – 6/10
He kept looking for chances to drive forward and was decent at the back as well.
RW: Helder Costa – 4/10
The Portuguese winger looked rather quiet throughout the ninety minutes. He was struggling to get himself more involved in the game. Was later replaced by Jack Harrison in the second half.
CAM: Tyler Roberts – 4/10
The 22-year-old midfielder failed to create chances for the frontmen and looked rather frustrated as the game went on.
LW: Raphinha – 6.5/10
The Brazilain winger created all sorts of menace for the Villa defence down the left-wing. However, he lacked quality in the final third.
ST: Patrick Bamford – 6/10
The Englishman hardly had any chances throughout the ninety minutes. Often marked by 2-3 Villa players, he had to drop deep even to get a touch of the ball.
SUBSTITUTES:
RW: Jack Harrison – 6/10
Created a golden chance for Raphinha around the 89-minute-mark.
CM: Ezgjan Alioski – 6/10
He added some solidity to the hosts’ midfield.
CAM: Pablo Hernandez – 5.5/10
He didn’t look convincing at all after coming on. Got himself a yellow card as well.
