Leeds United ended their run of five matches without a win in the Premier League by beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.
The Whites were in a frustrating run of form heading into the clash with Roberto De Zerbi’s side this weekend, and they bounced back with an impressive showing.
Noah Okafor’s goal was enough to secure all three points for the West Yorkshire outfit, who go into the November international break with only two defeats in the opening ten matches.
Daniel Farke and his coaching staff can now frame the break around building on this win, rather than needing to think of a way to turn the tide around.
How Leeds won the game against Spurs
The German head coach deserves immense credit for his tactics and system for the game against Spurs, because he was willing to cede possession and give up territory in a home game.
Leeds were happy to switch to a 5-3-2 formation, with Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading the line, and soak up pressure from the Lilywhites before breaking quickly to create chances on the counter.
Spurs had 61% possession throughout the 90 minutes, yet they only generated 0.77 xG and one ‘big chance’, whilst the home team created four ‘big chances’ and racked up 2.02 xG.
Those attacking statistics show that Farke played a tactical blinder against De Zerbi, as it was a counter-attacking masterclass from Leeds, who also needed their defensive players, such as Tarik Muharemovic, to be on point.
How Tarik Muharemovic impressed against Spurs
The Bosnia international, who joined from Sassuolo for £34m in the summer, was given the Player of the Match award by TNT Sports for his performance against the Lilywhites.
Whilst the best player on the pitch is debatable, Muharemovic did impress throughout the 90 minutes against Spurs and deserves praise for his display at the back.
The left-footed star, bar a moment at the end when his shanked clearance fell for Conor Gallagher, barely put a foot wrong defensively throughout the game.
|
Vs Spurs |
Tarik Muharemovic |
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
90 |
|
Defensive contributions |
14 |
|
Clearances |
13 |
|
Ground duels won |
2/2 |
|
Aerial duels won |
4/5 |
|
Dribbled past |
0x |
|
Pass accuracy |
80% |
|
Possession lost |
10x |
Muharemovic impressed because he was incredibly dominant in individual duels, winning six of his seven physical battles, and he was consistently in the right place at the right time to make clearances.
Better than Muharemovic: 9/10 Leeds star is their best player
The Bosnian, as good as he was, was not the team’s best player against Spurs and has not been the club’s best player overall in the Premier League this season.
Instead, it was £40m summer signing James Trafford who stole the show with his performance between the sticks in the 1-0 win over Spurs on Saturday.
He has dethroned Muharemovic as the club’s best player after putting in a monstrous display against the Lilywhites, bouncing back from his error for Evanilson’s goal against Bournemouth in the previous game.
|
Leeds player ratings vs Spurs |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Rating |
|
James Trafford |
9 |
|
James Justin |
7 |
|
Nico Elvedi |
7 |
|
Tarik Muharemovic |
8 |
|
Jayden Bogle |
6 |
|
Ethan Ampadu |
7 |
|
Ao Tanaka |
7 |
|
Sean Longstaff |
4 |
|
Gabriel Gudmundsson |
6 |
|
Lukas Nmecha |
5 |
|
Dominic Calvert-Lewin |
6 |
The England international, who is currently competing with Jordan Pickford for the number one shirt, delivered a 9/10 showing for the Whites with his all-round play in goal.
Trafford made four saves, preventing 1.6 xG worth of shots, completed all four of his run-outs, and made one high claim to take pressure off his defenders.
As good as Muharemovic was, his defending may have been in vain if Trafford had not made some outstanding saves to prevent Spurs from scoring, whilst also sweeping up in behind the centre-back when the ball went down the sides or over the top.
The English colossus has now kept four clean sheets in ten Premier League appearances for Leeds and has prevented 4.55 more goals than expected based on the xG of the shots against him.
Trafford is first in the Premier League for xG prevented, with 4.55, first for save success rate, with 82.2%, and first for sweeping actions per 90, with 1.9, which shows that he has been the best goalkeeper in the division.
Whilst Muharemovic has been superb, it is hard to compete with the exceptional statistics that the shot-stopper is putting up with his all-round game, which is why he is the best player in the squad right now.
