Credit: Imago

Richie Mills

Tue 7 April 2026 18:10, UK

Pascal Struijk says Leeds United deserve a second chance at winning at Wembley, while the club’s fans need to start appreciating him more.

Struijk made his debut for Leeds in the 2019-20 season and is approaching 200 games for the club.

The 26-year-old has often been a maligned figure amongst Leeds fans, with many questioning his capabilities of anchoring the team’s defence in the Premier League.

But the centre-back has, arguably, shown he can handle himself at this level this season, and that has led to transfer links with other Premier League outfits.

Struijk missed Leeds’ Championship Play-Off Final loss to Southampton at Wembley in 2024, and now the defender is relishing their clash against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals later this month.

Pascal Struijk delivers again for Leeds

Struijk has spent his entire senior career at Leeds since joining from Ajax’s academy in 2018. The 6ft 3in player is one of the last of Marcelo Bielsa era to still be at Leeds but his contract is set to expire in 2027.

He does not get the acclaim that centre-back partners Jaka Bijol and Joe Rodon get but he may have had the best season of the three.

According to Sofascore, Struijk has a season rating of 6.8, and Rodon is at 6.73, and while Bijol shades them both with 6.83, he has played 18 times, compared to their 28 and 29 matches, respectively.

Against Bijol and Rodon, he tops them on clearances made per game at 6.4, versus 5.6 and 5.7, respectively.

He is level with Rodon for blocked shots per match (0.6), and Struijk tops them for aerial duels won (55.6 per cent). The Belgium-born player has been more profligate in front of goal than his defensive team-mates (four big chances missed versus one for Rodon and Bijol) but Struijk deserves more respect than he is getting.

And after scoring the winning penalty against West Ham in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, perhaps Struijk will get it when they face Chelsea.

“It’s incredible,” he told Yorkshire Evening Post. “You can see from the reaction from the fans, from the players, everyone around the club was ready for this, and I think we deserve a second chance at Wembley.

“For me, especially since I missed out on the first time, it’s a great feeling. I’m very happy, I’m very excited to play and to do it for this club is amazing.”

Leeds make history as Struijk targets more

Struijk missed out on Wembley two years ago due to injury, as Ethan Ampadu and Rodon started in the Leeds side that lost to Southampton in the capital.

Leeds’ win over West Ham, which was one of the most dramatic games of the competition so far, ensured their passage into the last four of the FA Cup for the first time in 39 years.

The Whites have only won this competition once, back in 1972, but they will fancy themselves against an out-of-sorts Chelsea side.

While they are still underdogs, and they have to focus on staying in the Premier League, Struijk cannot wait to lock horns with the Blues – who they have taken four points off this term.

He added, “I think for us, it shows confidence that we can go into this game knowing that we’ve beaten them already this season, and we got two good results to be fair. So yeah, we go down to Wembley with nothing to lose, all to play for.”