Leeds United manager Javi Gracia must address set-piece issue as stat emerges v Crystal Palace
If they didn’t have a huge task on their hands before, Leeds United do now after they were humiliated 5-1 at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday (9 April).
The Eagles were uncharacteristically ruthless at Elland Road, looking extremely threatening on every attack.
Leeds have by no means been tight at the back under Javi Gracia, but he will be shocked at how easily his side were carved apart by the Eagles.
One aspect of the defeat that may have gone slightly unnoticed but could play a major role in Leeds’s success in the rest of the campaign is their ability to defend set-pieces, with one worrying stat now emerging.
“Since returning to the Premier League ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, Leeds have conceded more goals from free-kicks (direct & indirect) than any other team in the competition (16),” according to Sky Sports.
Ironically, Leeds opened the scoring from a set-piece as Patrick Bamford headed in expertly from a Brenden Aaronson corner.
But the hosts quickly conceded from a Palace set-piece as a long Eberechi Eze free-kick found its way to Marc Guehi, who beat the diving Illan Meslier to the ball to flick home.
And the equaliser came just moments after Jeffrey Schlupp should have scored from a Michael Olise header, with the Palace men hitting the post from point-blank range.
Leeds were without star defender Max Wober for the Palace clash due to injury, but the set-piece problem goes much deeper than simply an injury here or there.
Fingers may, of course, be pointed to goalkeeper Illan Meslier. The Leeds number one has the unfortunate honour of conceding the most goals in the Premier League this season (54), according to the official Premier League website.
And linked more closely to set-pieces, Meslier also tops the list for punches (21), four ahead of Everton’s Jordan Pickford and Palace’s Vicente Guaita, proving just how much of a preference the Leeds goalkeeper has for punching.
And when it comes to high claims, Meslier (30) finds himself behind Emiliano Martinez (44), David Raya (43), Jose Sa (36) and Gavin Bazunu (34), according to the official Premier League website.
Not all of the blame should be placed on the youngster’s shoulders, with his defenders also culpable of failing to deal with free-kicks and corners throughout the season.
It’s definitely an area that Gracia needs to address if the club are to have any hope of staying in the Premier League for another season.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are predicted to stay in the Premier League according to the numbers crunched by FiveThirtyEight’s Super Computer.