Leeds Player Ratings: Leeds United 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Leeds United played in a feisty match with Nottingham Forest today which saw Luke Ayling injured and a Kemar Roofe goal that appeared to go off his arm and into the net for the late equalizing goal.

A tough match, and Leeds will be feeling a little hard done by to only get a point out of the match, given the amount of possession, but Leeds are still second in the table, two points behind Sheffield United.

STARTING LINEUP

Bailey Peacock-Farrell- 7

Wasn’t at fault for the Robertson goal, as he had to come all the way across his goal just to try and get a hand to it. Wasn’t tested that much as Forest turtled after going up by a goal.

Luke Ayling - 7

Played well before being subbed off due to injury. Leeds struggled after he was ruled out against Forest on New Year’s Day last year, and Leeds lost the one game that he didn’t play in this season, so if he’s out for an extended period of time, it does not bode well for Leeds.

Liam Cooper- 6

Wasn’t at his best, as his diagonal passes didn’t open up the opposing defence like they sometimes can. Did well enough to keep out Forest, but after the first goal, it appeared that Forest were content to time-waste and sit on their lead.

Pontus Jansson - 7

Not as dominate on the defensive end, but again, Forest didn’t seem like it would score again after their set-piece goal. Jansson was the better of the two Leeds central defenders on dealing with Lewis Grabban, and neutralized him enough.

Stuart Dallas- 4

Can the “Dallas at fullback” thing end? He’s not good at it. His strength is coming down the left wing and cutting in with his right foot to either shoot, pick out a pass, or create space for a fullback to overlap and get in the cross, not cross himself. He’s not good at left-back, and I don’t remember a single cross from the right he did actually come close, with most being blocked. If he’s not being used as a winger, then he needs to be a bench option.

Kalvin Phillips- 7

Played decently enough throughout the match, but was subbed off when Bielsa brought in some more attacking options. He was also on a yellow card, so perhaps Bielsa realized that Phillips was starting to get frustrated and see red, and pulled him so that he wouldn’t get a second yellow.

Adam Forshaw - 7

Played deeper than Samu Saiz usually does, effectively playing as a deep-lying playmaker and left the enganche role open. Looked better in the second half, especially when playing behind Saiz and Klich.

Mateusz Klich- 6

Not up to his usual standards, had an opportunity early that he just couldn’t get his foot to, but otherwise was pretty quiet. Leeds was good in possession, but without him supporting the attack, the final ball just wasn’t falling.

Pablo Hernandez- 6

Again, not at his best today, but still provided much of the creativity for Leeds. Of course, Hernandez’s off-day is better than most player’s best day, but a lot of the inability to score comes from him not quite being on and not combining well with Klich and Forshaw.

Gjanni Alioski- 5

He’s better at left-back than at left wing, but he does provide pace and some crossing from the left. He’s a better option than Dallas at fullback, and is more attacking than a Tom Pearce, and even when he isn’t at his best offensively, he does wonders tracking back and tackling. If he had been able to turn a few of his chances into goals Leeds would have walked away with this match.

Kemar Roofe- 7

Again, not a brilliant performance from the Leeds striker, but an effective one. He scored the equalizing goal, and he chased lost-causes and always looked like the one most likely to score. Looked better once Saiz and Jack Clarke started creating havoc behind him. Man of the Match for me, just because he scored the goal.

SUBSTITUTES

Tom Pearce- 6

Average performance from the England U20 player. Would like to see him get more playing time, but like Jack said, can understand when chasing a result putting Alioski back there instead.

Samu Saiz- 7

Made a huge difference once he came on. The Forest defence had to deal with his runs and him popping up all over the pitch, which left room for Hernandez and Roofe to create. Forshaw never really came up into the role that Saiz plays, and Klich didn’t really fill it either. Could use Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown to get fit to fill Saiz’s boots if he needs a rest.

Jack Clarke- 6.5

Created some when he came on, is fearless and will take anyone on. Leeds finally looked like scoring once he and Saiz came on. Perhaps should be given a chance to start with how ineffective everyone else has looked on the wing in the past few games.