MOT View: Staggering stat shows that Leeds ace excelled himself v Stoke City
Show us a Leeds United fan who hasn’t been hugely frustrated with Patrick Bamford at some point this season, and we’ll show you a saint.
The 26-year-old is a favourite of Marcelo Bielsa’s for a reason, evidently, but there have been spells when his finishing has left a lot to be desired.
His performances in recent weeks have been much improved though, and his display against Stoke City on Thursday night was so lethal that it bordered on unrecognisable.
Bamford hit the target with three of his five shots, giving him an accuracy of 60% – a figure 22.1% higher than his season average, as per Wyscout.
Similarly, his dribble success rate was 25.3% higher than usual, and he won 47.4% more of his aerial duels too.
This was a hugely dominant performance from the forward, but of course, it’s crowning glory was that goal to make it 5-0 in the dying moments.
This Bamford’s shot map from Thursday night.
Incredibly, his goal had an xG of just 0.05, meaning that he would be justifiably expected to miss it 95% of the time.
That’s a staggering statistic.
But in truth, this was a staggering goal.
For starters, the ball from Luke Ayling was jaw-dropping.
But from the outset, Bamford gives himself the best possible chance of getting on the end of it by taking up a position between the full-back and the central defender.
This inside-left position makes him a nightmare to track, and shows the kind of intelligence that we haven’t see enough of this season.
The next most impressive thing is the way that Bamford slows his stride to match the bounce of the ball.
Take note of his body shape in the image above.
The striker is leaning back, decelerating into a jog so that can get the best connection at the best possible angle.
And then the shot itself is literally inch perfect.
From such a tight angle, to get the ball across the keeper but inside that far post is absolutely ludicrous.
Make no mistake, this was a world class finish, and if we can get a few more of these over the next couple of matches, we will coast into the top flight.
Credit where it’s due, Bamford excelled himself against Stoke.
In other Leeds United news, ‘Kick in the stomach’, ‘Sickener’ – Many Leeds fans react to latest Championship promotion twist