Elland Road can be a difficult place for opponents to navigate, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham United proved to be a difficult place to navigate on Friday night.
Leeds United’s famous home ground was rocked after Daniel Farke’s Whites scored twice at home within the first 15 minutes, but the visitors’ late strike from Matheus Fernandes wasn’t enough to give them their second home win in the Premier League this season.
Now, Farke’s side have three games in November against powerhouses such as Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City, and it will be interesting to see where the West Yorkshire side sit in the early standings after their trip next month.
The German manager will be hoping Sean Longstaff continues to perform in these high-pressure situations, and the former Newcastle United midfielder has already proven to be a steal after signing for a low fee of £12 million this summer.
Longstaff’s impressive Leeds performance
But with 171 top-flight appearances under his belt for the Magpies, it shouldn’t be the biggest shock that Longstaff has everything it takes to succeed in the Premier League.
Still, the Newcastle-born star was not always appreciated at St James’ Park, as he often faded into the background. But in West Yorkshire, he has been one of Falke’s main players so far this season, with the 27-year-old also winning Leeds’ Player of the Month award for September.
He’s also a worthy winner, with Longstaff already having created a staggering 17 chances this season, a figure bettered only by Manchester United stalwart Bruno Fernandes.
The former Tyneside prodigy has continued to perform well in the league since then, with one goal and two assists.
But it’s not just his attacking ability that has made the balanced midfielder shine, with an average of five duels won in nine top-flight games for Leeds in the White League, confirming Magpies great Alan Shearer’s previous claim that Longstaff is an “incredible” talent.
According to journalist Daniel Storey, Longstaff has even been hailed as “one of the best contracted players in the PL”. But the exciting attacking star may have an even more important piece of the puzzle at the former Norwich City manager’s disposal.
Leeds United’s most important players
There has been a lot of debate on the pitch as to who will be Leeds’ most important cog, and Joe Rodon is clearly the frontrunner in this regard. The no-nonsense Welshman scored the extra goal with his head in the last game, giving the Whites a 2-1 win.
Still, if Rodon goes down with an injury, Falke at least has Pascal Strujk to rely on. Similarly, suppose Longstaff himself falls victim to the knock. In that case, the promotion-winning manager has the likes of Ilya Guluev in his reserves, and he knows that Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka will do a great job as well, being active and combative when needed.
Unfortunately, Farke doesn’t have as much attacking depth at the same level and had to replace Brenden Aaronson as the right-wing option against the Hammers, which he did with ease. Thankfully, Leeds haven’t had to rely too much on ropey Jack Harrison in the opposition left channel this season, with Noah Okafor getting up and running in the Premier League without too much trouble.
The Swiss international, who already has European pedigree with the likes of AC Milan, is a breath of fresh air on the left flank as a viable immediate option, with journalist Oscar Mario claiming that Okafor is Leeds’ “most important player” as he “raises the level of players around him” by being a “difference-maker”.
Okafor’s PL number | |
|---|---|
status | Okafor |
games played | 6 |
the game has started | 5 |
Play time (minutes) | 353 minutes |
Number of points | 2 |
assist | 0 |
Statistics by Sofa Score | |
Indeed, at the start of the season, it looked like Leeds would struggle to stay ahead of the pack as they return to the challenging Premier League.
But with Okafor consistently explosive down the left, as seen in his incredible six successful dribbles against Wolverhampton Wanderers in September, Leeds are unlikely to retreat into a shell and accept their fate of relegation. It also helps that he already has two strikes next to his name, indicating the quick darting forward’s end result so far.
It will take a collective effort to keep Leeds from falling straight into the Championship, but Falke has already released Leeds mainstay Dan James for Okafor, so he will undoubtedly be a key player between now and their fall in May.
