After going unbeaten in their last two matches, Leeds United suffered a home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. The Whites were beaten 2-1 by the North London outfit, and despite creating some good opportunities, they couldn’t capitalise and ended up losing at Elland Road for the first time this season.
It was the visitors who took the lead in West Yorkshire, through Frenchman Mathys Tel. The former Bayern Munich prodigy got slightly fortunate with his effort from outside of the area, after a deflection took it over Karl Darlow into the back of the net.
Daniel Farke’s side hit back soon after, with new signing Noah Okafor once again getting on the scoresheet. Quick reactions meant the Swiss attacker could get on the end of a parry from Spurs’ goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who deflected Brenden Aaronson’s effort into his path.
Just before the hour mark, Spurs scored their second through one of their summer signings, Mohammed Kudus. The Ghanaian forward pounced on a loose ball, driving inside and firing a shot goalwards. Again, it took a deflection, leaving Darlow for dead and nestling into the bottom corner.
Kudus’ goal proved to be the difference-maker in a game where a few Leeds players struggled. One of those was Gabriel Gudmundsson.
Gudmundsson’s stats vs. Spurs
It has, generally speaking, been a good start to the season for Gudmundsson. The new Leeds left-back, who is a full international with Sweden, has started every game under Farke so far this season.
Whilst he has been impressive for the most part, as he was against the Lilywhites, Gudmundsson made an error which allowed Kudus the opportunity to score.
He got in a tangle looking to clear the ball, instead letting it bounce awkwardly off his torso and into the path of Kudus.
The stats from Gudmundsson’s efforts against the North London giants don’t cover him in glory. He made one error, which led to a goal, and he only won three out of five tackles. On the ball, he had 46 touches and lost possession 12 times.
Indeed, Graham Smyth, journalist for The Yorkshire Evening Post, gave him a 6/10 for his efforts at Elland Road. He said Gudmundsson had a ‘couple of nice moments’ on and off the ball, but did criticise him for a lack of contact on the ball, which led to Spurs’ winner.
It was certainly a tough day at the office for the left-back, but there was a fellow defender who struggled even more.
The Leeds player who was worse than Gudmundsson
It was certainly not the result Leeds would have wanted at Elland Road, given the fortress they have turned it into under Farke. They had more shots and possession than the visitors on Saturday lunchtime, but a couple of moments meant they didn’t even earn a point.
One of the players who struggled was 26-year-old centre-back Pascal Struijk. The former Ajax youth defender has been crucial for Leeds this season, playing 90 minutes in every Premier League game and skippering the side twice.
Yet, his efforts against Spurs were underwhelming.
There were two “unfortunate” deflections off the Leeds number five for each of the goals, as per The Athletic’s Beren Cross, which took the ball past Darlow to see his side go behind on both occasions.
He received a 5/10 rating for his performances by Smyth. The journalist said Struijk had ‘ropey moments at the back’ and pointed out the fact that he was ‘beaten in the air’ when Spurs struck the woodwork themselves.
The stats reflect how poor the 26-year-old was against the Lilywhites. He had 74 touches and, on the ball, was generally quite good. He completed 94% of his passes. Yet, he only won 40% of his duels and didn’t attempt a tackle.
Touches
74
Pass accuracy
95%
Pass accuracy
61/64
Long balls completed
1/3
Aerial duels won
2/4
Ground duels won
0/1
With summer addition Jaka Bijol knocking on the door for a spot in the starting lineup, perhaps Farke will decide to drop Struijk.
It is certainly disappointing that he struggled, especially in the air, against Spurs, and he certainly could have done more to prevent the goals.
Bijol has been an unused substitute in the Premier League this season, but perhaps this poor performance from Struijk will be enough to convince Farke to rotate the side ahead of the clash with Burnley.