Who won Daniel Farke's favour as Nico Elvedi and Jaka Bijol battle for Leeds United role

Leeds United duo Nico Elvedi and Jaka Bijol were on opposing sides in the Nations League on Saturday.

Elvedi's Switzerland welcomed Bijol's Slovenia side to Luzern for the third game of their respective Nations League group stage campaigns.

Both centre-backs are still trying to carve out key roles under Daniel Farke's Leeds squad this season.

Particularly Bijol, who has only started two of the Whites' opening five league games.

With James Justin and Tarik Muharemovic looking fairly cemented in the starting XI, it could largely be between these two for the third and final starting role in central defence.

Farke's decision on who to side with won't have been made much easier after Saturday either.

Where did Nico Elvedi lead all players in Switzerland vs Slovenia?

Starting with the new signing, Elvedi played the full 90 minutes on the right side of a centre-back pairing for Switzerland against Slovenia.

It was his side that ran out 2-1 winners too, as the Swiss made it three wins from three to start their Nations League group stage.

Per FotMob, no player on the pitch won more aerial duels than Elvedi's three on Saturday

Meanwhile, he also completed 94 per cent of his passes, took 99 touches, played 17 passes into the final third and was accurate with all four of his long ball attempts.

The 30-year-old won just the one ground duel, however, whilst also failing to make a single tackle as well as just the one recovery and interception.

Overall then, this was a hugely impressive front-footed display from Elvedi, one which really highlighted his ball-playing ability as a modern centre-back.

So how did his numbers compare with Bijol's, and does it provide a clear winner for Farke to crown?

Bijol also led all players in key area in Switzerland vs Slovenia

Bijol saw Elvedi's strong performance, and he knew he would require a big one of his own as a result.

Thankfully for the 27-year-old, and despite being on the losing side, he did exactly that.

Per FotMob, no player on the pitch had more defensive contributions than Bijol's 14 in this match.

On top of that, he completed 85 per cent of his passes, took 45 touches, played one pass into the final third and completed his lone dribble attempt.

Defensively, Bijol was far more impactful than Elvedi, making eight clearances, four tackles, five headed clearances, three recoveries and two interceptions.

He also won five of his seven ground duels and both of his two aerial duels, whilst also not being dispossessed once.

Who should Farke favour based on Bijol/Elvedi data?

In the end, both Bijol and Elvedi put in very strong individual performances on Saturday.

Farke will be thrilled with both of his defenders, but it's perhaps Elvedi who has just about edged it in terms of coming out of it in a stronger position.

Leeds want to play fast, direct, counter-attacking football, and Elvedi's ability to hit four from four with his long balls shows his potential to shine in this system.

Meanwhile, to complete 89 of his 95 passing attempts successfully is some achievement.

Slovenia only had 34 per cent possession and put just three shots on target too, so Elvedi's lack of defensive production isn't a stain on his performance.

Bijol also picked up a yellow card whilst Elvedi didn't, so despite a valiant and quality effort in its own right, the former hasn't moved ahead of the latter in Leeds' pecking order.