Leeds United picked up another valuable point in their bid to survive in the Premier League, drawing 1-1 with a high-flying Aston Villa side away at Villa Park.
Due to the nature of the goal Leeds conceded as well as the timing of it, there was a bit of disappointment from those associated with the Whites that Daniel Farke’s men did not return to West Yorkshire with all three points.
However, before the game, it was certainly a result any Leeds fan would have gladly welcomed with open arms, and considering that relegation rivals West Ham were held to a draw at home by Bournemouth, the point for Leeds against Villa suddenly becomes even more precious.
With the gap between Leeds and the bottom three remaining at six points with 11 Premier League games left, Wayne Rooney commented on West Ham’s battle to avoid the drop.
‘These are the games…’ – Leeds fans will enjoy Wayne Rooney’s honest West Ham verdict
Before speaking about West Ham, Rooney heaped praise on Leeds for their performance at Villa Park on the most recent episode of Match of the Day.
There were two players he was particularly impressed with, and those were midfielders Ethan Ampadu and Anton Stach, who have played pivotal parts in all of the success United have enjoyed so far this season.
However, when it was time for Rooney to discuss West Ham, he was not as complimentary, with the Hammers’ misfortunes only being positive news for Leeds after they drew 0-0 with Bournemouth.
“I think West Ham deserved the win, the form over recent weeks has been really good, so it’s encouraging for the manager, but these games are the games they have to go and win if they want to stay in the Premier League.”
Although both teams picked up a point, there is no doubting whose point was more impressive as Leeds managed to maintain their six-point buffer over West Ham, despite having a trickier fixture.
Data suggests West Ham should have beaten Bournemouth
To make things even sweeter for Leeds fans, West Ham were left extremely frustrated after dropping points at home against Bournemouth.
Every piece of data suggests the Hammers should have won the game, but somehow, they only managed to add a singular point to their Premier League tally.
- Remarkably, West Ham failed to score despite registering an xG of 3.27
- West Ham failed to capitalise on the three big chances they created during the game, whilst limiting Bournemouth to zero big chances
- Bournemouth never looked like they were going to win the game, registering an xG of just 0.65 (Sofascore)
On paper, this seemed to be one of the few realistic opportunities West Ham would have to pick up some points in the coming weeks, with the East London outfit set to face Liverpool, Fulham, Manchester City and Aston Villa in their next four outings.
Hopefully for Leeds, that run of fixtures puts a firm end to the revival West Ham have had in recent weeks, so the Whites do not have to endure a nervy end to the season.
