
This season was an undoubted success for Leeds United. A top half finish provided fans with a happy first campaign back in the Premier League adorned by plenty of famous wins for the Mighty Whites – wins supporters aren’t likely to forget any time soon.
Those wins and other results along the way saw Leeds develop a reputation as one of the must watch teams in the league. Granted plenty of people criticised the Whites at times for being too offensive and wide open at the back, but as the season unfolded the side became a more holistic unit capable of shutting teams out as well as picking teams apart in attack as Marcelo Bielsa’s boys made memories all season long.
But what were the their five standout performances this season? In which games were Bielsa’s boys at their absolute brilliant best this year?
Aston Villa 0-3 Leeds United- October 23rd, 2020
Following a mixed start to the season, the trip to Villa Park was the first sign of the upward progress Leeds would make later on in the season. This result was also the individual tale of Patrick Bamford’s redemption at the top level. Bamford scored his first Premier League hattrick and made the entire league sit up and take notice of his goal scoring ability.
But aside from Bamford’s brilliance, it was an utterly dominant display from Leeds across the park as they registered a huge 27 shots at the expense of Villa who had recently battered Champions Liverpool 7-2.
With 60% of possession and 445 passes, Leeds masterfully controlled the ball despite being away from home and up against a side keen to attack themselves. Their dominance in possession was perhaps underpinned by the 82% pass success Leeds registered in a near flawless showing.
We can sit here and lord Leeds for their attack that day but their defence at the start was as gutsy as anything you’ll see as they scrambled to deny Jack Grealish and co with Luke Ayling coming up with a massive goal line clearance.
West Brom 0-5 Leeds United – December 29th, 2020
The last game of a memorable 2020 saw Leeds turn in their most dominating performance yet in the Premier League. The rudderless West Brom were dispatched with ease in a performance that mixed attacking flair with steely defence which had been fairly absent up until this point.
The Whites restricted Albion to a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes and a weak four efforts on goal in total as Leeds utterly controlled the contest with 76% of possession and a huge 762 completed passes – a tally much more associated with the top teams in the league than a newly promoted club.
It may have started with an utterly bizarre goal – but to be fair to the maroon clad Leeds, the goal came courtesy of a high press forcing West Brom back after a counter-attacking push – but Leeds bullied Albion from there, their next goal symptomatic of the intensity United were playing at, trapping West Brom deep, forcing passes into dangerous areas and feeding on second balls as Ezgjan Alioski did to score a thunderbolt.
He linked masterfully with Jack Harrison down the left as you’d expect Bielsa’s fullbacks to do and the same occurred on the right as Leeds found another level to tear West Brom apart.
Burnley 0-4 Leeds United – May 15th, 2021
Crossing the Pennines to Turf Moor is never an easy game but this was a performance that in many ways encapsulated Leeds’ development as a side through the season. After being a team dependant on scoring more than the opposition earlier in the season, Leeds’ defence had become a formidable wall. On this occasion, former Leeds man Chris Wood was dealt with fairly easily and a late double from Rodrigo capped a perfect all round performance.
The score line is perhaps the most misleading yet most defining statistic of all coming out of this game, because on paper the game was pretty tight with the sides sharing 32 shots equally and with Leeds managing just two more shot on target than their opponents on an afternoon now tainted by racially charged controversy.
Intriguingly, Leeds didn’t dominate the ball as much as usual. They still registered 440 passes with a success rate of 76%, but they only managed 52% possession. This may surprise you but, in truth, by this stage in the season, Bielsa had at times adopted a more battling approach especially when turning to three banks of three to create a battleground of a midfield.
This culminated in a classic game of football but the stability provided by a back three of Pascal Struijk, Diego Llorente and Luke Ayling – with bags of versatility and a range of differing yet complimentary attributes between them – meant the Whites came away with an emphatic 4-0 win courtesy of that late Rodrigo double.
Leicester City 1-3 Leeds United – January 31st, 2021
A superb counter-attacking display at the King Power in late January was a perfect example of the ethos with which Bielsa sets up his Leeds side. With fast-moving passing cutting the Leicester defence open, the counter attack play of the last 10 minutes was rounded off by Jack Harrison, one of the standout Leeds performers this season.
In truth, this game represented an evolution for the Whites. After being battered by the Foxes at Elland Road in a 4-1 thumping thanks to the counter-attacking prowess of Jamie Vardy and co, Leeds found the means to do the same back to the foxes sacrificing possession (of which they only managed 49%) to come at Leicester on the break and did so with great success.
They had 10 less shots than their opponents but were much sharper with seven shots on target out of eight compared to Leicester’s eight from 18.
Leeds only recorded 389 passes that day at a rate of 72% which is unusually low demonstrating the ambitions of a gutsy United attack in a defining game for Bielsa’s boys, as Leeds rolled the dice on counter attacks to test the Leicester defence.
It certainly epitomised Bielsa’s attacking style but he should be credited for sacrificing his need for possession in the name of defeating Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Manchester City 1-2 Leeds United – April 10th, 2021
The most eye-catching result of the season, Leeds’ defending was the catalyst in their stunning victory over the Champions-elect at the Etihad. Reduced to ten men and pegged back after Stuart Dallas had given them a shock lead, Leeds seemed content to settle for a more than credible draw in Manchester. However, with City committing large amounts of men forward, Dallas spearheaded a counterattack that resulted in him slotting the ball past Ederson and giving Leeds a memorable victory at the home of the eventual champions.
This depicted the guts and versatility Bielsa and his side concocted towards the end of last season to fire them to a strong end to the campaign with a revolutionised defence.
Leeds only recorded a pair of shots during the 90 minutes as they struggled with just 28% possession – a rarity for the Whites forcing defence to become the priority as City rained in on the Leeds goal with 28 shots.
In many ways, the draw at Elland Road was a performance more characteristic of Bielsa’s side, and was one of the finest games Martin Tyler has ever covered according to the commentator himself. But this was one of those games that those involved will remember forever less for the statistics behind the win and more about the result and the opponents.
