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 (£4.0m) was taken off injured in the 44th minute of Friday’s encounter, having suffered a back issue.
In his post-match interview, Daniel Farke simply said:
“Between back and leg, seemed pretty painful.” – Daniel Farke on Gabriel Gudmundsson
Noah Okafor (£5.5m), who provided the assist for Brenden Aaronson’s (£5.4m) 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 Rodon’s (£4.1m) 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 Ham’s typical shortcomings – the first being a cross into the box, and the second from a corner taken by Sean Longstaff (£4.9m).
The Hammers have now conceded nine goals from corners in the Premier League this season, at least six more than any other side.
“A 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.”- Nuno Espirito Santo
Alongside Rodon, Leeds players Jayden Bogle (£4.5m), Jaka Bijol (£3.9m) and Ethan Ampadu (£4.9m) also produced DefCon points:
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m), 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 (£4.5m), Anton Stach (£5.1m) and Jack Harrison (£5.2m) 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:
“Performance-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.” – Daniel Farke
“First 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.” – 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 Santo’s team selection.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.3m) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.4m) both earned recalls, yet even then, left-back Ollie Scarles (£4.4m) was positioned on the right.
The midfield pairing of Tomas Soucek (£5.7m) and Andy Irving (£4.4m) lacked any real composure or dynamism, too.
Above: Leeds United’s first half passing network v West Ham
Scarles’ 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 (£5.9m) providing a proper focal point up top.
“It 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.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
The impressive Mateus Fernandes (£5.5m) pulled one back for the visitors, having been expertly picked out by Jarrod Bowen (£7.8m), 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 (£5.9m), meanwhile, had a goal disallowed for offside.
Next up for West Ham: back-to-back home matches against Newcastle United and Burnley.
