Leeds Player Ratings - Leeds 3 - 0 Preston

Leeds United ran out 3-0 winners over Preston North End at Elland Road. Leeds were the better side throughout and played some really excellent football, outside of a couple of sloppy spells in the 1st 10 minutes of each half.

A first half header from captain Liam Cooper was followed up in the second half by a Tyler Roberts brace, and in truth Marcelo Bielsa will feel we should have had at least a couple more goals.

Time now to look at each player and how they performed. As always you can tell me how wrong I am @mightywhitespod or @ThruItAllLUFC on twitter.

STARTING LINE-UP

Bailey Peacock-Farrell - Made a good early save from Callum Robinson and dealt with a couple of crosses well. Distribution was improved as well. Good clean sheet for BPF. There were a couple of balls he should have come out for but didn’t would the only thing to critique. 7/10

Luke Ayling - Was sloppy during the opening 10mins but after that put in a really good performance. Linked up well with Kalvin Phillips in the build up to Leeds 2nd goal and linked up repeatedly with Jack Harrison. Played his part in what was a very good defensive display. 7.5/10

Pontus Jansson - Jansson at his imperious best. Always in the right place and won his aerial battles consistently. Made several good interceptions and on top of his excellent defensive work he brought the ball out really well. Produced a couple of moments of skill to top off the performance. Could have had an assist but Alioski’s goal was ruled out for offside. Man of the Match despite strong competition today. 9/10

Liam Cooper - Had a good defensive performance but not as strong as Jansson’s in that regard. Got the opening goal with a header from a corner in the first half. More good work from the skipper. Should be back in the Scotland squad on current form. 8/10

Barry Douglas - Got beat more than Ayling on the other side but didn’t ever look in too much trouble. Got the assist for Cooper’s goal with a corner and produce an even better delivery in the 2nd half which could easily have been headed home by Jansson. 7.5/10

Kalvin Phillips - Dominant display from Phillips. Got on top in the midfield battle and never relinquished his control on the match. Fantastic ball over the top to set up Tyler Roberts for his 1st goal. Very assured display. 8/10

Jack Harrison - His best game in a Leeds shirt. A constant threat and Preston never got to drips with him. Should have an assist when he played through Mateusz Klich for an excellent chance, and should have scored himself when he hit the post when clean through. Seems to have much more confidence following his goal against Millwall. 8.5/10

Mateusz Klich - Left his shooting boots at home today but outside of that he had another very good display. Good cross to provide the assist for Roberts’ 2nd goal of the night. Excellent passing display and good in the tackle when he needed to be as well. Has to lose a bit of rating for missing two big chances, the first of which was a real “had to score” chance. 7.5/10

Samu Saiz - Always a threat. Able to get on the ball in dangerous areas and provide a couple of really big chances for his teammates. Involved in the build up to the 3rd goal with the pass to Klich. There were a couple of times when he held onto the ball for too long would be the only real criticism. Put in some real effort when pressing Preston’s defenders on the ball as well. 8/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Had a goal disallowed for offside following a long ball from Jansson. Lowest score for a Leeds player today but he was not bad by any means. Worked hard and covered for Douglas well on the couple of occasions Preston got in behind him. Couple of decent efforts on goal. Some of his crosses were a little disappointing. 6.5/10

Tyler Roberts - I am so pleased for Tyler Roberts. Hopefully this is a real confidence boosting performance for the Wales international. Looks far more of a threat through the middle than he did out wide. Wasn’t in the game massively in the first half but was tidy when he was. His first goal was an excellent finish to lob Declan Rudd with the ball bouncing ahead of him and his second goal was a simple header, taken confidently. Got a deserved standing ovation when leaving the pitch. 8.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Stuart Dallas (for Roberts, 86mins) - Not on long enough. N/A

Adam Forshaw (for Klich 88mins) - Not on long enough. N/A

Lewis Baker (for Saiz 90mins) - Not on long enough. N/A