Leeds United earned three points for the third time this season by securing a 2-1 win against struggling West Ham United on Friday.
Here are our Scout Notes from Elland Road.
GUDMUNDSSON INJURY
Gabriel Gudmundsson (ยฃ4.0m) was taken off injured in the 44th minute of Fridayโs encounter, having suffered a back issue.
In his post-match interview, Daniel Farke simply said:
โBetween back and leg, seemed pretty painful.โ โ Daniel Farke on Gabriel Gudmundsson
Noah Okafor (ยฃ5.5m), who provided the assist for Brenden Aaronsonโs (ยฃ5.4m) opener after his back-post header was saved, also had to be substituted at half-time.
Beren Cross from The Athletic provided a further update on both Gudmundsson and Okafor following the conclusion of the match:
RODON HAUL
Aaronson and Joe Rodonโs (ยฃ4.1m) early goals proved to be enough at Elland Road.
Rodon, who was benched by 54% of his owners, delivered a 13-pointer even after conceding a late goal that cost him his clean sheet, having also claimed two defensive contribution (DefCon) points and the maximum bonus.
Both goals came from West Hamโs typical shortcomings โ the first being a cross into the box, and the second from a corner taken by Sean Longstaff (ยฃ4.9m).
The Hammers have now conceded nine goals from corners in the Premier League this season, at least six more than any other side.
โA simple explanation, we didn’t deal with the problems. We didn’t deal with the things in our box, the set-pieces, we didn’t deal with the second balls. We didn’t deal with many things.โ- Nuno Espirito Santo
Alongside Rodon, Leeds players Jayden Bogle (ยฃ4.5m), Jaka Bijol (ยฃ3.9m) and Ethan Ampadu (ยฃ4.9m) also produced DefCon points:
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (ยฃ5.5m), meanwhile, put in a considerable shift; however, he registered just one shot on goal and has now blanked in four consecutive matches.
FARKE ON DARLOW/STACH
Farke made four changes to the side that started their 2-0 defeat at Burnley last week, with Karl Darlow (4.0m), Pascal Struijk (ยฃ4.5m), Anton Stach (ยฃ5.1m) and Jack Harrison (ยฃ5.2m) dropping to the bench.
Stach has experienced a dip in form recently but has been playing through injuries.
Explaining the changes before kick-off, Farke said:
โPerformance-wise, the changes are not so necessary. But we have had a bit of a difficult week. Ethan Ampadu, Pascal Struijk and a few players were struggling with a few physical problems. Anton Stach too.โ โ Daniel Farke
โFirst of all, I have to say that we all love Karl Darlow. He’s always solid, reliable and never cracks under pressure, he’s done a solid job in the last weeks when we needed him. But we also made no secret that we signed Lucas Perri as our No 1 and now he’s three and a half weeks back in team training, with a full week. It was a straightforward decision that he is back in goal.โ โ Daniel Farke
BOWEN ASSIST
The final score indicates a closely fought match, but West Ham once again fell woefully short, mirroring their defeat against Brentford just a few days earlier.
Their failure to defend crosses and corners is the main issue, but the overall performance was undoubtedly affected by Nuno Espirito Santoโs team selection.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (ยฃ4.3m) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (ยฃ4.4m) both earned recalls, yet even then, left-back Ollie Scarles (ยฃ4.4m) was positioned on the right.
The midfield pairing of Tomas Soucek (ยฃ5.7m) and Andy Irving (ยฃ4.4m) lacked any real composure or dynamism, too.
Above: Leeds United’s first half passing network v West Ham
Scarlesโ injury in the first half did at least lead to a positive change, as Nuno switched to a back four formation, with substitute Callum Wilson (ยฃ5.9m) providing a proper focal point up top.
โIt was not working out and we needed to make a change. We were not dealing with our defensive situations, and it felt like we needed a striker to hold the ball, so maybe that’s not the greatest from me. These kind of mistakes are unacceptable in the Premier League.โ โ Nuno Espirito Santo
The impressive Mateus Fernandes (ยฃ5.5m) pulled one back for the visitors, having been expertly picked out by Jarrod Bowen (ยฃ7.8m), but it was too little, too late.
Nuno is now winless in all four of his Premier League matches as West Ham manager so far.
As for Bowen, before his assist, he had put one on a plate for Soucek, only for the Czech Republic midfielder to miss the target. He was also unlucky not to score with an acrobatic scissor kick in the first-half.
Lucas Paqueta (ยฃ5.9m), meanwhile, had a goal disallowed for offside.
Next up for West Ham: back-to-back home matches against Newcastle United and Burnley.
