120 defensive duels – Leeds produce season-best statistic to outshine Southampton
Much will be made of the terrific attacking talents behind Leeds United after they smashed Southampton 3-0 but a solid defence was so pivotal to their success.
The Whites had to hold their nerve after an indifferent start to proceedings that saw the Saints start quicker and attempt to play Marcelo Bielsa’s side at their own game.
Pressing was the aim of the game as the south-coast side tried to pen Leeds into their own half and it nearly worked when Nathan Tella was awarded a penalty, only to be denied by a VAR review.
But Leeds remained resolute to earn their second successive Elland Road clean sheet and move into the top half of the Premier League.
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl made reference to the aggressive nature of our play and that tells its own story as we bullied them in the second half.
As reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post Hasenhuttl said: “They’re very clever. They always stopped our counterattacks with a simple foul in the midfield. It stops everything. They do it very smart. They have been nasty today and we haven’t been in the second half. We were in the first half but in the second half we were a nice opponent who delivered chances and gave them three points.
“It was deserved, they killed us in the second half.”
According to Wyscout Leeds perform the most defensive duels per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season with 82, significantly higher than closest challengers Tottenham Hotspur [68.22].
Against Southampton this figure jumped up significantly to 120, the Whites’ highest total of the season, and the 77 successful duels is something that has not been seen since the opening day of the season fixture v Liverpool.
A 64% success rate made it our best since November 2 and is a jump up from the 58.8% average.
One man who was integral to this was talismanic captain Liam Cooper who led the way with an 82% defensive duel success rate, the highest out of any Leeds player in the starting XI.
That came from 11 attempts and only defensive partners Pascal Struijk [12] and Diego Llorente [15] made more.
He won 100% [3/3] of his loose ball duels and made four clearances, outperforming his 2.78 season average.
Five interceptions was also a big improvement on the single one he made against Wolves on Friday.
He adjusted brilliantly to the change in shape as Bielsa opted to name three central defenders and Cooper was a man mountain in between his defensive cohorts.
So much for our defensive deficiencies, our tally of eight Premier League clean sheets is beaten by only six teams in the division.
Cooper can take much of the credit for this as his leadership qualities and tough-tackling abilities shone through.
In other Leeds United news, Saints legend fumes at state of Elland Road pitch after Whites win.