Leeds United brought in Dominic Calvert-Lewin as their marquee signing up top in the summer window. Many thought the club would have ended up with star names like Rodrigo Muniz, Callum Wilson or Nikola Krstovic.
Since arriving at the club, Daniel Farke has settled on the former Everton striker as his first choice. But Calvert-Lewin has been on a long goal drought since he found the back of the net against Wolves. The 28-year old has missed five big chances in the league this season.
| Statistic | Percentile |
|---|---|
| Non-penalty goals | 22nd percentile |
| Non-penalty xG | 78th percentile |
| Goal conversion | 20th percentile |
| Aerial duels won % | 56th percentile |
| Touches in box | 27th percentile |
| Expected assists | 39th percentile |
| Offensive duels won | 36th percentile |
His form has raised concerns among fans, who think he should not be in the lineup. When asked about the striker’s contribution to the team, Daniel Farke had a rather bold submission which has left many fans scratching their heads.
“We are a newly promoted side, so you can’t expect us to make as many chances as Manchester City does for Erling Haaland,” said Farke.
He continued: “Our strikers know our position and we just want to score enough goals to stay in this league. The main thing is that we are successful as a team.
“I don’t judge my players on their goals and assists it’s also about their workload which is quite important. It’s not that we are not brave enough – we just don’t make enough chances.”
Daniel Farke is wrong about his analysis of Dominic Calvert-Lewin as Leeds United striker
Because of how Leeds set up defensively against opponents, it is understandable that the striker will be out of the game for long stretches. But when Leeds have the ball, they find Calvert-Lewin a lot. This season, Brenden Aaronson is the only player in attack that has received more passes (171) than the striker (143).
And Leeds actually do create chances, but they are very poor at converting them – something Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a huge culprit of. The England man ranks in the 78th percentile for non-penalty expected goals, which means that he gets on the end of open play chances more than 70% of the strikers in the Premier League.
| Statistic | Rank |
|---|---|
| Goals Scored | 17th |
| Expected Goals | 11th |
| Shots | 9th |
| Key Passes | 10th |
He also has good hold up play and makes things happen when he gets the ball, this is why he starts over Joel Piroe and Lukas Nmecha.
Leeds boss needs to judge attackers by goals
Farke has already said there are other parts of the game he expects his attackers to excel at. But this is the Premier League, and if you fail to score goals, you get punished. The Whites have just nine goals this campaign, which ranks among the bottom five clubs in the competition.
Moving forward, Daniel Farke has to pick his attack based on who can score goals and provide assists. Too many times this season he has stuck to the likes of Brenden Aaronson and Calvert-Lewin who have nothing to show for it.
Leeds have been handed a huge boost ahead of this weekend’s game as Wilfried Gnonto is set to return to the matchday squad.
