Leeds United took a huge risk when they decided to sign centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer upon their promotion to the Premier League last year.
The English attacker had only scored three goals from 6.75 xG in 26 appearances in the Premier League for Everton in the 2024/25 campaign before being released by the Toffees.
Despite his struggles on Merseyside, Leeds were willing to give the striker a chance to turn his career around at Elland Road under head coach Daniel Farke.
A return of 19 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions for the club to date shows that he has been a success in Yorkshire, but there is still more to come from the 29-year-old number nine.
Where Calvert-Lewin needs to improve the most for Leeds
As good as the England international has been during his time at Elland Road, Calvert-Lewin still has more levels to find in the coming months and seasons.
The former Everton ace scored 14 goals in the Premier League in the 2025/26 campaign and has scored three goals in six outings in the division at the start of the current campaign.
However, his general play with the ball at his feet needs to improve. In the league this season, Calvert-Lewin has only completed 49% of his attempted passes, completing 44 of his 89 attempted passes so far.
In the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, the Leeds frontman only completed seven of his 20 attempted passes and lost possession 21 times from 35 touches of the ball across the 90 minutes.
|
26/27 Premier League |
Calvert-Lewin |
Rank vs STs |
|---|---|---|
|
Passes completed |
44 |
Bottom 42% |
|
Pass accuracy |
49% |
Bottom 1% |
|
Chances created |
1 |
Bottom 12% |
|
Big chances created |
0 |
Bottom 1% |
|
xA |
0.09 |
Bottom 39% |
|
Assists |
0 |
Bottom 1% |
He has been one of the worst-performing passers in the Premier League this season, ranking poorly among his positional peers as a passer and as a creator, which is why he needs to improve as a passer more than anything else for the Whites.
Calvert-Lewin’s performance against Arsenal
His lack of quality in general play was what let down his otherwise impressive display in the 2-1 defeat to the Gunners in North London at the weekend.
Calvert-Lewin caused Ezri Konsa and Gabriel plenty of problems with his physicality in the number nine role, as he competed in a game-high 20 duels, including ten on the ground and ten in the air.
The experienced striker only won eight of those 20 duels, which is not impressive at face value, but he did not need to win the duels to put pressure on the centre-backs and force them into mistakes.
What let him down, though, was that he only completed 35% of his attempted passes and came off the pitch without any shots, completed crosses, key passes, or ‘big chances’ created, which means that he did not do enough with the ball when he had possession.
Leeds have a bigger talent than Calvert-Lewin
Whilst Calvert-Lewin struggled with the ball on Saturday, one of his teammates put in a display that has made him look like the most valuable player in the squad.
Arsenal had £105m signing Declan Rice in the middle of the park against Leeds in the game at The Emirates on Saturday, yet he was outperformed by one of Farke’s midfield talents.
The Whites paid £17.4m to sign Anton Stach from Hoffenheim in the summer of 2025, after their promotion from the Championship, and now he is starting to look like a £100m-rated midfield star.
In the defeat to the Gunners, the Germany international had the beating of Rice at times and got the better of the England international with a superior performance on the pitch.
Stach has racked up six goals and three assists in all competitions since the start of last season, showing off his qualities as an offensive force, but he caught the eye with his work off the ball on Saturday.
The 6 foot 4 midfield monster helped the Whites to compete well physically throughout the match with the work that he put in out of possession to constantly challenge and close down Arsenal players.
|
Arsenal 2-1 Leeds |
Stach |
Rice |
|---|---|---|
|
Minutes |
90 |
90 |
|
Pass accuracy |
88% |
88% |
|
Key passes |
1 |
1 |
|
Shots |
2 |
0 |
|
Distance covered |
12.6 km |
11.7 km |
|
Tackles won |
3/3 |
2/2 |
|
Aerial duels won |
3/3 |
3/5 |
|
Errors |
0 |
1 |
Stach more than matched Rice’s display in the middle of the park, winning a higher percentage of his aerial duels, making more tackles, covering more ground, and taking more shots on goal.
The German star was unfortunate to be on the losing side with the performance that he put in for the Whites, as he produced a complete display with quality contributions offensively and defensively.
If Rice is worth more than £100m, Stach must be valued at a similar price, particularly in comparison to what some of the division’s top midfielders moved for over the summer.
In the 2025/26 campaign, the former Hoffenheim star won 53% of his duels and averaged 2.9 tackles and interceptions per game to go along with five goals, nine ‘big chances’ created, and 2.2 key passes per match.
These statistics show that he has consistently offered quality as a complete midfielder in the Premier League, and his performance against the Gunners was not just a flash in the pan.
Stach, therefore, is even better than Calvert-Lewin, who is currently struggling with some of the basics on the ball, and looks like a £100m player for the Whites, just a year on from joining for just over £17m.
