Leeds lightweights lost 75% of their duels, which was worse than Ampadu’s performance against West Brom

With his performance on Friday night, the Whites attacker let Daniel Farke down horribly.

Leeds United fell farther behind West Bromwich Albion in the fight for automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, losing 1-0 on Friday night.

After losing their previous two Championship games, the Whites are presently nine points behind second-placed Ipswich Town and six points behind third-placed Southampton.

It was another dismal performance and result for the Yorkshire-based club, making finishing in the top two even more impossible for Daniel Farke‘s team.

Ethan Ampadu, the typically dependable defensive midfielder, was caught off guard by Grady Diangana‘s game-winning goal, but it was Joel Piroe who let the head coach down with another terrible performance.

Ethan Ampadu’s performance versus West Brom
During the first half, the Wales international was unaware of his surroundings in the penalty box, allowing the West Brom forward to get behind him and score from Jed Wallace‘s cut-back.

When he was in the right position to cut out the cross, Ampadu was not turned on near the penalty spot, allowing the ball to get by him and to the Baggies attacker.

He did, however, win 50% (1/2) of his midfield duels and complete 89% of his attempted passes to keep Leeds in the game.

No West Brom player was able to dribble past him throughout game, indicating that the midfielder held his ground and was not easily beaten aside from Diangana getting the better of him for the goal.

Meanwhile, Piroe started in the tenth place and failed to make an impression in the match behind Georgino Rutter.

Joel Piroe’s performance versus West Bromwich Albion

The Dutch attacker was characterised as “invisible” by analyst @Louorns on X following the loss to Preston, and he was again on Friday.

In his last six Championship outings for the Whites, he has one goal and zero assists in a 4-0 thrashing of Ipswich.

Piroe didn’t provide much of a physical outlet for his team to hit, as the left-footed lightweight lost 75% (3/4) of his duels, including both of his clashes on the deck and one of his two aerial contests.

In possession, the former Swansea City player did little to earn his starting spot. In 90 minutes on the pitch, he did not create a single ‘big chance’ or execute a dribble.

Leeds‘ number seven also had all three of his shots blocked by the opposition, implying that his decision-making in front of goal was poor, as West Brom found it too simple to cut out his efforts before the custodian was concerned.

These numbers reveal that Piroe contributed very little to the team both in and out of possession throughout the game, and that he let Farke down horribly in the final third.

As a result, he was poorer than Ampadu, who was solid enough in midfield aside from that split-second slip in focus for Diangana‘s goal, and needs to improve his level of performance swiftly to maintain his spot in the starting XI moving ahead.