Leeds United need to address outstanding issue after Burnley defeat at Elland Road

Mateo Joseph of Leeds United
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Leeds United’s issue against Burnley is fairly obvious with just one glance at the match statistics. The Whites fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat against promotion rivals Burnley at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

Despite having the lion's share of the ball in both halves the Whites could not recover from Luca Koleosho’s composed strike; he took advantage of Manor Solomon’s unfortunate slip before breaking at pace and finishing with aplomb.

However, it was not Leeds’ defensive ability that let them down on Saturday. Their dominance was showed in the post-match stats; 17 shots is a fairly impressive return but the worry for Daniel Farke’s side will be the fact just four of them were registered on target. In comparison, Burnley mustered just seven shots - 10 less than Leeds - but still three were on target.

READ MORE:Leeds United boss Daniel Farke identifies 'decisive moments' in Burnley defeat

READ MORE:Leeds United mocked by Burnley player after Elland Road defeat

Diving deeper into the 17, eight were heading wide and deemed off target but Burnley players did block five of them, so some credit should be handed to their resolute defence - they have conceded just three goals from five Championship outings so far. Of these 17 shots, Mateo Joseph’s first-half strike stands out; he latched on to a misplaced pace, before striding forward with just the ‘keeper James Trafford to beat but he missed the target completely with a dreadful finish.

Later in the game, Brenden Aaronsen played a perfectly time ball through Burnley’s defence which Wilfried Gnoto latched onto but his left-footed shot from close range drew a smart save from Trafford. The English shot-stopper denied Joseph once again, this time in the second half, his curling shot looked destined to nestle into the goal but Trafford tipped the ball wide to the disbelief of Elland Road.

After full-time, Farke addressed the issue, he said: “The decisive moments of the game were not effective enough, because obviously we should have scored already after two minutes. We had much more of these situations and better chances, even better chances, easier chances to score."

He added: “We didn't take them, so this is where we have to be self-critical in the decisive moments of the game…“We didn't turn this game on our side to score the goals and also we are disappointed to concede out of such a situation. We are not happy with our effectiveness today and that's the reason why we lost this game.”