In a match with few clear-cut opportunities, Leeds United and Crystal Palace cancelled each other out at Elland Road.
Here are our Scout Notes from the game.
LEEDS POOR IN ATTACK
Daniel Farke’s men were unusually flat in attack, as they produced only two attempts on target.
Leeds got most of their joy down the left flank, via Gabriel Gudmundsson (£4.5m) and Noah Okafor (£5.8m), but nobody really stood out for the Whites’, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) offered very little service.
When James Justin (4.5m) did find him in the second-half, Calvert-Lewin was denied by Walter Benitez (£4.5m) from point-blank range.
Unmarked, only a few yards out from goal, he really should have done better.
Lacking quality in the final-third, Farke switched to a back four in the second half, but it failed to fire up the hosts, and if anything, Palace looked the more likely to snatch the three points.
MUHAREMOVIC THREAT
The fact that Tarik Muharemovic (£5.0m) had more shots than any other player on the pitch pretty much sums it up.
All four of the centre-backs’ shots on Sunday were from set plays.
Arguably Leeds’ best player again, Muharemovic is still yet to blank in FPL, with one assist, two clean sheets and six defensive contribution (DefCon) points in five matches.
Leeds head into the international break having conceded only three goals so far, the joint-fewest of any team with Everton…
Above: Teams sorted by fewest goals conceded (GA) in the first five Gameweeks
“Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] had an excellent chance in the second half and sometimes you want to take a dirty one-nil but I’m quite happy with the clean sheet and to extend our unbeaten run.” – Daniel Farke
STACH’S DEFCONS
Anton Stach (£6.0m) didn’t have his best game on Sunday, with his set plays poor.
However, the German midfielder did bank DefCon points in the late Opta update, hitting the threshold for the third time in five matches.
Stach did that despite operating in a more advanced role behind Calvert-Lewin for most of this match.
He is now second among midfielders for total DefCons in the first five Gameweeks, with 61, only behind Brentford’s Vitaly Janelt (£5.0m).
PALACE ENCOURAGEMENT
Prior to Sunday, Palace had conceded 11 goals in their first four matches.
However, they recorded an unlikely clean sheet at Elland Road, with a much-improved defensive display.
They will probably feel like they could have taken all three points, too, with Tyrick Mitchell’s (£4.5m) second-half strike from an Anan Khalaili (£5.0m) delivery ruled out by VAR for offside.
Daichi Kamada (£5.0m) also picked up some nice positions in the pocket, dragging an effort wide of the post, with three shots in total.
Palace will take plenty of encouragement from this display, however, with their defence looking much more solid.
“I prefer to have the ball, and I think it’s the best way to defend. But in this league, with our players, we have to be maybe more patient in our way of defending. That’s why we improved that last week. We showed that in our game on Thursday and today too. And we gave less space, less time to the opponent.
“I think it’s better. And the mindset is especially different, I think, to before, because we are more aggressive and more on the players. We go on quickly when the ball is on the side and that changes things. That’s why there’s a situation. And when you have this kind of problem, we resolve it for the moment. But we have to keep it, because doing it one game is easy – we need to do it every game.” – Pierre Sage
Takehiro Tomiyasu (£4.4m) meanwhile had to be subbed off at half-time due to injury, with Jefferson Lerma (£4.9m) his replacement at the back.
“He was injured in his calf. I think it’s not too serious, but it’s too much to play if you want. And I think it’s a good sign when a player says ‘I’m not able to play more because I’m not 100 percent’ – it’s a sign of honesty and I like this kind of thing.
“All the four players who played in this position and that’s why I think we made this kind of performance, because when the defenders are good defensively and offensively we can play and we can cancel or prevent the chances of the opponent.
“He [Lerma] gave us what he’s able to give about his aggression, about his heading, especially defensively. He played well with the ball too, and I think it’s a good step for us because as I said on Thursday, if we win some players it will be better and better, because we will have more solutions.” – Pierre Sage
Further forward, Ismaila Sarr (£6.2m) came on as a second-half substitute but, like in midweek against Lech Poznan, looked rusty.
