Alious
Leeds United missed the opportunity to move back into the automatic promotion places in the Championship after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Millwall on Wednesday night.
Millwall secured the victory at The Den thanks to a first-half goal from Japhet Tanganga.
This was only Leeds’ second defeat of the Championship season so far, but Daniel Farke and his players will be disappointed they failed to trouble the Millwall defense.
The article notes that Millwall away is not the type of fixture that would immediately seem suited to Leeds playmaker Brenden Aaronson, and the American international’s performance backed up that assessment.
The data shows Aaronson lost 60% of his duels in the match, with the player losing 7 of his 11 ground duels and 3 of 4 aerial contests.
This indicates the Millwall defenders were able to get the better of him physically, taking advantage of Aaronson’s slight frame in the number 10 role.
While Aaronson’s passing was accurate, completing 93% of his attempts and creating 2 chances, he was unable to provide an assist.
The article states that Aaronson was not the worst performer for Leeds on the night, with striker Joel Piroe struggling even more.
Piroe played the full 90 minutes but was handed a dismal 4/10 player rating by LeedsLive, with the report stating he offered virtually no threat in the final third.
The statistics back this up, with Piroe recording an xG of just 0.18 and an xA of 0.04, while winning only 1 of his 5 duels and failing to win a single foul.
In comparison, Aaronson won 5 times as many duels as Piroe and had a higher pass accuracy.
This suggests that despite his own poor showing, Aaronson still offered more than the Leeds number 10.
The article argues that Piroe let manager Daniel Farke down with his struggles, being dominated in and out of possession and providing little to no attacking threat.
As a result, the author believes Farke should drop Piroe from the starting lineup in favor of Mateo Joseph for Leeds’ next match.
Overall, it was a disappointing night for Leeds as they missed the chance to move up the table, with their attacking players, particularly Piroe, underperforming against the physical challenge posed by Millwall.
Alious
