-Harrison 3, 44 Roofe
22 Hernández 34
Forshaw 53
Forshaw 53
Roofe appeared to be
stationed on the right but drifted inside and often played in
advance of Bamford. Casillas was captain after Leeds made their
substitutions. York re-used some shirt numbers and per the
teamsheet, Newton was supposed to be wearing 3. However with
Ferguson staying on after half-time, he actually wore 6. Moké
skippered the home side in the second-half, playing just in
front of the back three in a damage limitation measure. When
Watson came on at the heart of their defence, Newton shifted to
the left of the trio.
-Costa 69 Bogusz 80
Felix 9
Felix 9
Attendance not announced but
likely to be a little over 3,000. Two
unknown trialists in the Guiseley squad
including one cited by some sources to be Scott Smith, a
contracted player whose name erroneously appeared as No.17 on
some teamsheets. McNally came on at right-back with Cantrill
switching to the left. Leeds shuffled their forward line in the
second-half to be (right to left): Costa - Stevens - Clarke.
Nat
Optus Stadium
(Perth)
(Perth)
-Greenwood
7
Rashford 27 Jones 51 Martial 69p
Rashford 27 Jones 51 Martial 69p
•●Martial 69
Young was captain for
Manchester United's second-half team.
-Bogusz 9
Hernández 90+5
Yeboah 48
Hernández 90+5
Yeboah 48
When Roofe limped off,
Stevens came on at right-wing allowing Hernández to move inside.
Mourdoukoutas took over the captaincy for WSW in the closing
stages when their line-up became: 40 - 31 13 14 - 33 28 32 29 -
6 - 36 35.
-Hernández 50p
Birsa 14
Birsa 14
•●Hernández 50
1■Phillips 85
Official attendance not
given but reported to be less than 7,000. At the start of the
second-half, Cagliari's João Pedro dropped back to the hole and
assumed the captaincy, passing the armband on to Pisacane when
he was himself substituted. At this point, Rolando Maran tweaked
his formation to 3-5-2: 28 - 56 19 4 - 25 17 8 6 2 - 9 20. A
fourth keeper, Ciocci, was not listed on the teamsheet but was
pitchside and fully kitted out.
-Hernández 26
Bamford 57 Harrison 72
Weimann 79
Bamford 57 Harrison 72
Weimann 79
For Bristol City, Eliasson
came on at RW with Weimann switching inside to play as a second
striker, prompting Leeds to deploy Phillips as an extra
centre-back. Costa debuted on the right freeing Hernández to
play centrally, while Alioski operated initially as a left
wing-back and then in a more advanced position ahead of fellow
sub Davis. Alioski (LU) and Taylor (BC) came on immediately
after the home side's goal. Leeds' Assistant Coach Diego Reyes
was shown a yellow card late on.
-Hernández 59
Grabban 77
Grabban 77
When out of possession,
which was large periods of the game, Forest reverted to a
4-4-1-1 formation with Lolley, Semedo and Adomah dropping deep.
Then chasing the game, Mir replaced Watson and they went 4-4-2
forcing Phillips to drop into the back line. As at Bristol City,
Hernández played centrally when Costa subbed on for Klich.
-Nketiah 43 Berardi
50 Klich 58
Costa started as a hybrid
left-winger come second striker with Clarke operating from
slightly deeper on the other flank. The pair swapped from the
32nd minute until a formation change in the 64th minute to
4-2-3-1. This was a reaction to Salford shifting to 4-3-3 with
the introduction of Gaffney as a right-sided attacker
(Dieseruvwe/Rooney at centre-forward, Beesley/Lloyd on the
left). Leeds' back four was comprised of
Shackleton/White/Berardi/Davis while Klich briefly sat in
alongside Phillips. Costa was in the No.10 role with Clarke and
Alioski wide. Soon afterwards McCalmont was brought on to play
as one of the defensive midfielders with instructions for Klich
to push further forward. This also meant Costa returned to the
right.
-Bamford 34, 65
1■■Williams
21
Wigan reacted to the
sending-off of Williams by playing Evans deeper in a 4-4-1.
Their double substitution in the 65th minute was effected
immediately after the second Leeds goal.
-Nketiah 81
Costa was initially a direct
replacment for Harrison on the left but switched to right
wing-back after the later changes saw Leeds adopt a loose
3-1-4-2 with Berardi as an extra centre-back and Nketiah joining
Bamford up-front. Brentford by this stage were effectively 5-3-2
with Dalsgaard and Henry pinned back and Dasilva introduced at
right midfield. Late on they became 4-4-2 with Marcondes on the
left of the midfield quartet. Mbuema briefly swapped flanks with
Canós prior to being subbed. Although drawn out by treatment for
Dallas, Nketiah/Berardi/Benrahma were brought on during the same
break in play.
-Dallas 42 Alioski 50
Bamford 66
Leeds' initial formation
seemed geared towards Stoke playing with two strikers but
Phillips spent much of the first-half in his usual position,
tracking Duffy. Effectively 4-2-3-1, this soon became 4-2-2-2
with Hernández in a free role and Harrison stepping in from the
left to support Bamford. Either side of half-time, Duffy did
push up more so Phillips reverted to the back line. With Dallas
and Alioski adopting a high line, Leeds again migrated to
3-1-4-2 while Stoke ended the game 4-5-1, with Clucas at
left-back and Ince and McClean on the wings. Dallas took over as
captain for Leeds when Hernández went off.
-LOST
ON PENS 4-5
Nketiah 67 Costa 81
Batth 39 Vokes 44
Nketiah 67 Costa 81
Batth 39 Vokes 44
White slotted into the
centre of Leeds' defence in the second-half allowing Phillips to
push into midfield. There was a lop-sided look after the changes
as Costa patrolled the right on his own whereas Douglas and
Harrison teamed up on the left; Forshaw an extra man in the
middle. As per the previous Saturday, at times Harrison moved
inside to play as a second striker. Under increasing pressure,
Stoke sacrificied a front man for an additional attacking
midfielder in Etebo. After Ince was subbed, Etebo dropped back
and Clucas was the main support to Vokes in a 3-5-1-1.
-Routledge
90
For the fourth time this
season, Costa replaced Klich to permit Hernández to move inside
from the right. Swansea's match-winner Routledge made the
reverse transition after Byers came on for Ayew.
-Nketiah 84 Klich 89p
•●Klich 89
IWith Barnsley playing Wilks
up with Woodrow, Kalvin Phillips surprisingly did not play as an
extra centre-back until the second-half. Wilks later switched to
the right wing to accommodate Bähre's introduction in attack. In
injury-time, Berardi came on for a cameo appearance as a libero
allowing Phillips to briefly push further forward.
-Lowe 20og
Martin 90+1
Martin 90+1
•●Klich 70 (wide)
Costa switched to the right
when Douglas came on for Hernández, Alioski moving up to
left-wing. For Derby, Paterson entered the game at ACM with
Holmes dropping back. He finished on the left of a midfield
quartet with Knight on the right and Waghorn joining Martin in
attack. The visitors' formation change prompted Phillips to play
as an extra centre-back. Derby were temporarily reduced to ten
men late on with Malone off through cramp between the 88th and
90th minutes.
-Bonne
32
Interesting tactics from Lee
Bowyer with Williams almost a 'false 9' and his strikers
operating wide (and swapping wings in the second-half). Also an
apparently pre-determined redeployment of Pratley as a third
centre-back after 20 minutes, though this was a subtle change
from his already deep-lying role. Bielsa changed to a 3-1-4-2 at
half-time with Phillips, hitherto marking Williams, in defence,
Dallas in midfield and Forshaw holding. Nketiah was paired with
Bamford for the first time since the end of the Brentford game,
though the replacement of the latter with Roberts modified the
formation to 3-1-4-1-1. Charlton sub Aneke moved from the hole
to a striking berth when Bonne was withdrawn, with Field at left
midfield. Gallager briefly took over the attacking midfield
position until being sacrificed for an extra specialist
centre-back; ex-Leeds man Pearce joining the fray for the
closing minutes.
-Bartley 38og
The goal was originally
credited to Alioski before the EFL Dubious Goals Committee
adjudged it to be an own goal. Kiko Casilla changed to an orange
kit at half-time due to his yellow shorts clashing with the
visitors. Dallas moved to midfield when Ayling came on in his
usual right-back position while for WBA, Pereira moved out to
the right when Krovinović replaced Matt Phillips. Ultimately
both captains were substituted with Dallas and Bartley the
stand-in skippers. On the Leeds bench, Carlos Corberan and
Marcelo Bielsa were both shown yellow cards.
-Alioski 46
J.Wallace 16p
Bradshaw 45
J.Wallace 16p
Bradshaw 45
•●J.Wallace 16
1■Berardi 14
Berardi's red card was
overturned by an FA Panel but strangely, Bradshaw escaped
retrospective punishment for the dive that gave rise to the
dismissal and penalty. Leeds responded to this early blow by
moving Ayling to LCB and Dallas to RB, effectively 4-1-3-1. At
half-time, Harrison moved to the right to replace Costa with
Douglas on at left-back and Alioski playing in front of him.
Bielsa's final change saw Roberts come on in the attacking
midfield role with Klich dropping back to replace Phillips.
Millwall looked to be more 4-4-2 in the second-half, even before
Böðvarsson's introduction.
-Phillips 65
Leeds wore a one-off retro
kit to mark their centenary with lace-up collars and in plain
white, save for gold badges and blue numbers. Birmingham brought
Maghoma on at left-wing immediately after the goal, with
Villalba shifting to the right. Likewise Harrison switched from
left to right when Costa made way for Douglas, in the familiar
reshuffle that frees Alioski to play even further forward on the
left flank.
-Nketiah 87
Barkhuizen 74
Barkhuizen 74
Preston opted to match
Leeds' formation; 4-1-4-1 in possession and 4-2-3-1 without -
Pearson, Johnson and Browne respectively their '6', '8' and
'10'. Early on they also sought to replicate their opponents'
fabled high press. Leeds accommodated Roberts' introduction as
sub by moving Dallas to right-back and Ayling to left
centre-back.
First goalless game in
nearly fourteen months. Wednesday's Julian Börner injured in the
warm-up, Hutchinson dropped back to cover, Pelupessy stepped up
from the bench and Thorniley came into the squad. Cooper took
over as Leeds' captain when he came on. This substitution also
involved Berardi moving to right centre-back, Ayling to
wing-back and Dallas playing further forward.
-Roberts 39 Harrison
82
When Leistner was injured,
QPR brought Kane on at right wing-back and shuffled Rangel
inside to play as a centre-back. Leeds' Harrison was subbed
prior to the restart after his goal.
-Bamford 30p Harrison
35
Williams 40
Williams 40
•●Bamford 30
Ayling captain when Cooper
went off. Blackburn's Gallagher briefly went to right-wing when
Graham came on up front. This was ahead of the double change
which led to Buckley taking over on the flank with Evans playing
in midfield.
-Bamford 51
Pearson 90og
Collins 54
Pearson 90og
Collins 54
Cooper took over the
captain's armband within a couple of minutes of his entering the
game. Later fellow sub Jack Clarke came on for his first league
action of the season, operating on the left. This meant
Harrison's earlier replacement, Costa, switched flanks and
Hernández moved infield. Luton's formation was similar to
Charlton's in that they used a midfield diamond with two split
front men. Their double substitution resulted in Collins playing
centrally with LuaLua on the left.
-Harrison 87
When Roberts went off,
Hernández moved inside to replace him with Costa coming in on
the right. Alioski played in midfield as a fairly direct
replacement for Klich until the final moments when he went to
left wing-back after Shackleton came on for Harrison.
-Bamford 3
Klich 45+3, 73
Costa 67
Klich 45+3, 73
Costa 67
Harrison swapped wings when
Alioski replaced Costa. Phillips' booking ruled him out of the
next game which perhaps encouraged Bielsa to try out Ben White
as the holding midfielder at the end, with Berardi on in the
centre of defence.
-Alioski 50
Hernández 78
Hernández 78
Ben White was expected to
play the Phillips role but Huddersfield using Grant as an
orthodox striker forced him back to his customary position.
Leeds thus settled into an unfamiliar 5-4-1, transitioning into
3-4-3, without a defensive midfielder. Late on the home side
changed to 4-2-3-1 with Grant on the left and young subs Harratt
and Daly in the 9 and 10 positions respectively. This allowed
Leeds to go to a back four including debutant Olly Casey,
freeing White to finally move forward as the shield. Alioski
finished the game on the right wing with Ayling right-back and
Dallas in midfield.
-de Wijs 73og Alioski
82
The first two Hull
substitutions were at the restarts after the goals, the second
one delayed by attention required for their stricken 'keeper
Long. After the first change, Bowler played on the right with
Bowen moving inside and Irvine dropping back. At 0-2 down they
went to three at the back, with Bowen and Grosicki supporting
Eaves, flanked by Bowler and Lewis-Potter (3-2-4-1). Leeds
responded by bringing on an extra centre-back in Struijk (as LCB
with Berardi right and White central). Hernández moved to RW in
what was now a 5-1-3-1 and in the final moments, Dallas played
in midfield with Douglas on at left-back.
-Costa 6 Bamford 8,
51p
Tomlin 60 Morrison 82 Glatzel 88
Tomlin 60 Morrison 82 Glatzel 88
•●Bamford 51
1■Morrison 86
Just short of the half-hour
mark, Cardiff switched Ralls and Tomlin. Then Tomlin briefly
played a third position when he swapped wings with Mendez-Laing
prior to the introduction of Whyte in the 61st minute. Whyte
began on the right with Tomlin restored to the hole and Ralls
dropping back where Vaulks had been. Mendez-Laing remained on
the left at this point but returned to his starting position for
the final twenty minutes after a further reversal of the
Bluebirds' flank men. Pack replaced Morrison, both as captain
and centre-back, when the lattter was sent-off. Leeds
substitutions were unusually like-for-like positionally by
Marcelo Bielsa's usual standards including late on, the
sacrifice of Berardi for the additional height offered by Pascal
Struijk. This move drew post-game criticism when the 20-year-old
centre-back was caught flat-footed in the build-up to Cardiff's
equaliser.
-Bamford 54
Mitrović 7p Onomah 69
Mitrović 7p Onomah 69
•●Mitrović 7
Dallas was pushed into
midfield when Hernández suffered an early hamstring injury,
Alioski coming on at left-back. At half-time the Macedonian
switched to right-wing and Dallas returned to his original
position as Leeds modified their shape to 4-1-3-2. Both players
were on the move again after the final substitution, Dallas to
right-back and Alioski reverting to the left full-back berth.
-Dallas 89
Browne 22
Browne 22
As at Deepdale, the early
part of the game was marked by Preston's aggressive press with
Nugent, Potts and Browne quickly shutting down Casilla's short
options. Leeds were panicked into more errors than the previous
encounter but the visitors' goal actually came from from a
counter-attack on a rare occasion when the press had been
broken. When Nugent was replaced with a midfielder in Ledson,
Browne pushed forward into the hole, Potts went to right-wing
and Maguire led the attack.
-Costa 15 Harrison 21
Ayling 69 Dallas 84
Harding 90+5og
Bellingham 27
Jutkiewicz 61, 90+1
Bela 83
Ayling 69 Dallas 84
Harding 90+5og
Bellingham 27
Jutkiewicz 61, 90+1
Bela 83
In the second-half, Phillips
played as centre-back with Ayling moving to right wing-back and
Dallas to midfield. The formation was now 5-4-1 come 3-4-3
reminiscant of the Huddersfield game, with no obvious sitting
midfielder. For their part, Birmingham morphed to 4-4-2 with
Mrabti pushing up alongside Jutkiewicz. Bela initially played on
the right but switched wings when Montero came on. Leeds brought
Berardi on at the restart after Dallas' goal and he went to RCB
with White shifting back inside and Phillips returning to DM.
-Ajayi 52og
Ajayi 2
Ajayi 2
Albion reshuffled their
forwards when they brought Zohore on late in the game. The new
man played up top with Robson-Kanu in a supporting role and
Pereira wide right.
-Nelson
55
Harrison switched wings when
Costa came on. Later when Ayling was withdrawn, Dallas took over
from him both as captain and right-back while Costa adopted a
free role, vacating the right-wing for the final sub Stevens.
-Murphy
87 Nuhiu 90+4
Insert notes here.
-Wells
20
•●Bamford 62 (saved)
1■Phillips 88
As at Arsenal, Costa
switched infield when Stevens came in on the right wing. For
QPR, Eze played in the hole when Clarke replaced Chair, while
Osayi-Samuel ended the game as the main striker with Pugh on the
right.
-Bamford 48, 66
Hernández 63
Hutchinson 4
J.Wallace 23p
Hernández 63
Hutchinson 4
J.Wallace 23p
•●J.Wallace
23
Marcelo Bielsa cited the
lack of a playmaker in Millwall's initial setup for not using
Ben White as a defensive midfielder until the closing stages.
With their double substitution, the visitors changed to 4-4-1-1
with Mahoney right, Ferguson left and Jed Wallace in the hole,
shadowed by the redeployed White. This also required Ayling to
move to centre-back and Dallas to right-back. Until this point
there had been no direct replacement for the suspended Phillips
although Dallas briefly, and then Klich, operated as the most
defensive of the central midfield trio. Hutchinson was
Millwall's captain after Pearce departed.
-Hernández
59og
An oddity was that Leeds did
not have their usual spare centre-back although Bielsa may have
felt that Massey playing in the channels and White marking Moore
meant that Cooper was free. After taking the lead, Wigan
withdrew Massey into midfield and Williams played a little
deeper too as they adopted a 5-4-1 shape. Lowe initially acted
as a direct replacement for Massey on the left of midfield but
dropped to full back when Jacobs came on for Tom Pearce. After
their one change, Leeds had nobody playing on the left of their
defence. In effect they had an asymmetrical three at the back,
six in midfield and Bamford the lone spearhead.
-Ameobi
31 Walker 90+4
Ameobi and Silva swapped
wings in the 28th minute while Forest made another interchange
at half-time, this time involving Silva and Lolley. Thus their
attacking midfield line became Lolley/Silva/Ameobi. For Leeds,
Shackleton played at right-back when he replaced Alioski with
Dallas moving to the left.
-Cooper 38
Benrahma 25
Benrahma 25
Brentford's late double
substitution saw Baptiste come on in midfield with Fosu wide
right, ie the reverse of the players each nominally replaced.
-Ayling 16
For Bristol City, Paterson
played as a striker when Weimann was forced off with O'Dowda on
at left-wing. The Irishman later switched to the right as the
Robins used their final substitution to change slightly to
4-3-1-2 with O'Dowda/Henriksen/Massengo behind Palmer and
Wells/Diedhiou up-front. Ashley Williams was also pushing
forward at every opportunity by this stage. The most interesting
tactical note for Leeds was that Kalvin Phillips did not really
drop to play as an extra centre-back, as has become customary
when faced with a 4-4-2, until the second-half. This may be
explained by the continued lack of Forshaw meaning with no-one
suitable to play the "Phillips role", KP just played both
positions himself. A little like when Sharyn Hodgson (Carly in
Aussie soap "Home & Away") also played the character's twin
sister Samantha.
-Hernández 57
When Phillips went off
injured, White replaced him at defensive mid, Ayling went to
centre-back, Dallas moved over to right-back and Alioski came on
at left-back. In the 73rd minute Reading went 4-4-2 with
Rinomhota on the right and Méïte up-front; forcing White back
into defence and prompting Marcelo Bielsa to instruct Klich to
sit in front. In the final minutes the visitors also pushed
Moore forward as an auxillary striker.
-Klich 45+1
Middlesbrough wingmen
Tavernier and Coulson swapped over in the 39th minute, returning
to their original stations at the restart after Klich's goal.
Howson was the replacement captain when Friend was withdrawn.
Nmecha's introduction saw a formation tweak to 4-4-2 with Wing
dropping back alongside Clayton in midfield.
-Ayling 5 Hernández
47
Roberts 81, 84
Roberts 81, 84
In the 17th minute, Leeds
changed to what might be termed for simplicity 3-6-1. In more
detail this utilised Ayling and Cooper as marking centre-backs
with White sweeping, Costa and Harrison as wing-backs and
Phillips/Dallas-Hernández/Klich matching Hull's diamond in the
middle. Hull kept the same system throughout but rotated certain
players after their substitutions. Stewart moved to left
midfield when Batty came on in the holding role with Honeyman
shuffling over to the right. Their forwards were usually split
and with Balogh favouring the right, Wilks shifted leftwards to
accommodate his new strike partner. Finally Honeyman adopted a
third position at the tip of the diamond when Maddison was
transplanted on the right of it. Dallas, who had moved towards
the left to keep marking Honeyman, now picked up the former
Peterborough winger. With Hull's attacking concentrated on this
side, United's utility man was now back playing pretty much as a
left-back again affording Harrison, and then Alioski, licence to
push forward.
-Ayling 3 Bamford 51
Huddersfield's second sub
Alex Pritchard played in the hole so Smith Rowe briefly moved to
the right wing before being replaced by Bacuna.
-Hoilett
35 Glatzel 71
Leeds' first game after the
Covid19 restart played behind closed doors, with the option to
make upto five substitutions and with drinks breaks in each half
resulting in additional injury-time. Alioski played left-back
with Dallas moving across to the right. For Cardiff, Vaulks (and
his subsequent replacement Tomlin) adopted the more advanced
midfield position after Ralls went off.
-Bamford 10 Alioski
56
Harrison 71
Harrison 71
1■■Kebano
90+1
Fulham dominated possession
in the first-half, pressing high and exploiting Leeds' rigid
man-to-man marking system. In particular Reid drifted inside,
pulling Ayling with him and freeing space for Bryan to attack
down the left. Bamford became increasingly isolated and the
unusually direct service to him usually resulted in rapid
surrender of the football. With the half-time changes, Roberts
moved to centre-forward with Hernández in the hole, Harrison
swapping to the right and Alioski on the left. As well as adding
creativity, Hernández's brief also included shackling the
visitor's holding midfielder Reed, who had assumed the role of
playmaker in the first period. Shortly after going two behind,
it appeared that Fulham clockwise rotated the positions of
Arter, Reid and Cairney - possibly so that Reid could better
support Mitrović, Cairney could escape the attentions of
Phillips and Arter could act as a placeholder on the left until
a more natural wideman in Kebano replaced him a few minutes
later. Cavaleiro for Knockaert was like-for-like while their
later triple substitution at 0-3 down seemed solely motivated by
protecting players for future games. Johansen played as the
No.10, Onomah slotted in beside Reed and Mitrović took over the
captaincy. For Leeds, Douglas played in his customary left-back
role when he came on with Dallas moving into midfield. Many
sources stated that Shackleton replaced Hernández in the second
minute of injury-time but he actually entered the pitch near the
end of the 91st minute, just as Kebano left the fray after
somewhat unluckily picking up two yellow cards in the closing
stages. Much talk after the game centred on Mitrović leading
with his elbow when challenging White in a 2nd minute incident
that went unseen by the officials but earned a retrospective
three game ban for the Serbian.
-Dallas 63
Cornick 50
Cornick 50
Ayling was captain after
Cooper was forced off early on. Costa and Harrison briefly
swapped over for the final minutes of the first-half. It was
perhaps surprising that with Luton playing two forwards,
Phillips did not move to centre-back until after the interval
when he played between Ayling and White, with Dallas and
half-time sub Alioski as wing-backs. That said Phillips
increasingly pushed into his usual midfield territory as Leeds
probed for a winner. With Luton's double change, Collins and
Bolton effectively replaced Hylton and Cranie respectively in a
reversal of the numbers displayed on the 4th official's board.
The visitors originally named Glen Rea in their starting XI but
an injury in the warm-up meant Cranie was promoted from the
bench and Butterfield added to the squad.
-Bamford 7 Phillips
40
Klich 53
Armstrong 48
Klich 53
Armstrong 48
Lenihan assumed the
captaincy for Rovers after Bennett's injury and Downing came on
as a makeshift left-back. The home side played a slightly
lop-sided looking 4-2-3-1 with a forward on the right and a
midfielder on the left and their attacking was indeed focussed
on Gallagher's flank. After their substitutions on the hour mark
they addressed this imbalance somewhat, lining up thereafter
with Samuel/Rothwell(Buckley)/Armstrong behind Graham.
-Klich 45p Costa 47
Cooper 57 Hernández 72
Bamford 90+3
Cooper 57 Hernández 72
Bamford 90+3
•●Klich 45
Stoke started in a 3-4-3
formation pressing high in the first five minutes but therafter
retreating into their own half so that it was really a 5-4-1.
The penalty on the stroke of half-time forced a rethink with
Michael O'Neill sending his team out after the interval in a
3-5-2 with Campbell playing closer to Vokes and Powell on the
right of a central midfield trio, with Clucas left and Cousins
holding. The plan was undermined by the almost immediate
concession of a second goal yet at the restart, it was Leeds who
rang the changes. This was Marcelo Bielsa's customary reaction
to facing two strikers as Ayling, White and Cooper now formed a
back three. In front of them a loose midfield diamond of
Phillips/Dallas-Hernández/Klich with Costa and Harrison
patrolling the wings. Thus it was a very similar set-up to one
employed for much of the Hull game in February, with the same
eleven players. The visitors quietly abandoned their new shape
after 51 minutes and went 4-3-3 with McClean pushed up to the
left of their attack and Martins Indi shifting over to
left-back. Curiously it was not until the 63rd minute that Leeds
reset to their original positions. By this time Stoke now had
Diouf playing perhaps slightly wider on the right than Campbell
had been and Gregory as the centre-forward. For the final
minutes, Ayling donned the captain's armband for United.
-Hernández 89
A first win in Swansea for
56 years and though not quite matching that day in April 1964 in
terms of clinching promotion, it was a giant step towards that
aim. Leeds played three at the back with Cooper marking Ayew and
Ayling/White collectively tracking Brewster. The vast majority
of United's attacking came down the right so whenever possible,
Ayling reverted to his customary full-back forays in a
remarkably energetic performance given the humid conditions. In
the first-half some observers stated that Dallas was left-back
in a four but the reality is he only dropped back there on
occasions to offer himself as an option when Meslier or the
defenders were in possession - in general play he was in
midfield marking Fulton. Meanwhile Klich kept tabs on Grimes and
Phillips sought to shackle the dangerous Gallagher. Costa and
Harrison struggled to get involved in the opening period but the
half-time changes at least freed up Harrison to support Bamford
from the blindside, with a more natural wing-back in Alioski now
tasked with stopping Connor Roberts. Hernández played in the
right central midfield role and Klich moved over to where Dallas
had been. Fittingly the game was won by a thrilling Ayling run
that took him from centre-back to outside right, to set up
Hernández for a bobbling finish off the post that echoed the
Swans' late winner at Elland Road. Note that in injury-time
Shackleton, Mulder and Berardi all came on during the same break
in play but separated by delays, first for the treatment to the
stricken home keeper and then by confusion over the final Leeds
change. Douglas was ready to come on but Bielsa stood him down
for the greater aerial ability of Berardi when he saw that Ayew
was playing centrally. In fact Swansea finished in a gung-ho
2-4-1-3 formation with Roberts and Celina on the wings and
Routledge, Ayew and Cullen all up-front.
-Solbauer 28og
A nail-biting win that took
Leeds to the brink of promotion. With Phillips ruled out for the
rest of the season, White played as the defensive midfielder.
Ayling, slightly surprisingly, was in the middle of a back three
which curtailed his attacking instincts so in evidence at
Swansea. Perhaps this led to a brief and possibly mutinous
switch to a back four of Ayling-White-Cooper-Berardi from the
35th minute but if not initially sanctioned by Bielsa, that was
how the defence lined up after the interval. Dallas began the
game as right wing-back with Costa playing inside him and
somewhat advanced so that the attacking six shaped up as an
inverted pyramid. For Barnsley, Woodrow was a "false 9" behind
two slightly wide attackers, which may have contributed to the
home sides' defensive dilemnas. Halme was expected to sit at the
base of a midfield diamond but he was dragged over towards the
right to man-mark Roberts. At the start of the second-half Leeds
were 4-4-1-1 with Hernández in the hole and Costa back on the
wing for a few minutes, before being put out of the game by
Mowatt's clumsy challenge. With Alioski on, Harrison switched to
the right before being withdrawn to allow Struijk to be
introduced as a holding midfielder. Now it was the familiar
4-1-4-1 and Leeds at last gained some sort of control of the
game, albeit at the expense of any attacking thrust. With Dallas
and Alioski as the wingers, Bamford became a very lone
front-man.
-Hernández 56
Shackleton 75
Clarke 84og
Martin 54
Shackleton 75
Clarke 84og
Martin 54
A memorable weekend with
promotion sealed on Friday evening and the title assured on
Saturday lunchtime (by way of defeats suffered by West Brom and
Brentford respectively) continued with a guard of honour from
Derby County for the new champions. This was ahead of a largely
low key game, the first league fixture missed by Mateusz Klich
in Marcelo Bielsa's reign. In the first-half, the Rams' Tom
Lawrence left the pitch with his arm in a sling following a
shoulder injury while Gaetano Berardi suffered an anterior
cruciate ligament tear in his right knee. His replacement,
Ayling, played as the right centre-back with White shifting to
the left. For Derby, Rooney moved to the attacking central
midfield position when Sibley went off while the introduction of
Marriott appeared to herald a formation change to 4-4-2.
Obviously this drew a response from Bielsa who moved Struijk
back between the central defenders in what was pretty much a
3-4-3. Matt Clarke unwittingly became the eighth opponent to net
for United in the 2020-21 campaign. A post-script to the
post-game celebrations was a £20k fine from the FA for use of
pyrotechnics.
-White 13 Dallas 28
Roberts 51
Shackleton 66
Roberts 51
Shackleton 66
Leeds played a similar
formation to that seen recently at Swansea but with Ayling as a
more conventional centre-back and with the wingers doing very
little tracking back. It was basically four defending and six
attacking. The unhibited freestyle football of the soon to be
crowned champions was in marked contrast to the plight of
Charlton, who were left to hope in vain that results elsewhere
would save them from relegation. Shortly after going 2-0 down,
they tried moving Doughty to an attacking midfield position and
changing to a back four with Sarr at left-back. There were three
personnel changes at half-time including the withdrawal of
ex-Leeds defender Jason Pearce; keeper Phillips taking over as
captain. Sarr and Doughty returned to their starting positions
and the midfield assumed a more obvious diamond with Field
holding, Cullen on the right and subs Morgan and Williams taking
the left and attacking berths respectively. For Leeds, Poveda
played on the right wing so Harrison had a short spell on the
left before being replaced there by Stevens.