Leeds Player Ratings: QPR 2 - 1 Leeds

Leeds United put in a spirited display but lost 2-1 at Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

The young Leeds side went behind through an Aramide Oteh penalty following a foul by Leif Davis on Jake Bidwell. Leeds equalised almost immediately when a Lewis Baker free-kick was spilled by Matt Ingram before being followed up by Finland youth international Aapo Halme.

Both sides had chances but QPR did have the better of the chances and they re-took the lead when Jake Bidwell got on the end of a corner for about the 6th time to head home the winner.

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 - Much improved performance from the Northern Ireland international. Made several good saves to keep Leeds in with a shout and only made a couple of small errors. Unfortunately, one of them was to parry a simple save behind the line, leading to the series of corners which QPR scored their second goal from. Never looked confident coming off his line for a set-piece. 7/10

Jamie Shackleton - Didn’t have as much impact going forward as he would have liked but that was more due to not receiving enough of the ball. Some good work when he did receive it. Defensively did fine without standing out. 6.5/10

Aapo Halme - Got his first Leeds goal after following up well from a free-kick. However, defensively looked shaky throughout the first half and was consistently beaten by his man. Booked for giving away the free-kick on the edge of the box which was crossed in for the penalty decision. Removed at half-time. 6/10

Luke Ayling - The experienced man in the defence but didn’t show it. Much calmer than Halme but made a few poor passes out from the back that put Leeds under pressure. Still to find his best form following injury. 6/10

Leif Davis - Played left-back in the first half and put in a solid performance. Naive tackle to give away the penalty which took the shine off some good defensive work. Moved to centre-back for the second half and looked composed. Beaten in the air for the second goal but in truth that could have happened to any Leeds player as we had no height on the pitch once Halme went off. One high profile mistake but not a bad performance at all. 6/10

Adam Forshaw - Miles better than against Nottingham Forest although that doesn’t say much. A couple of early mistakes but then improved. Could have had more help in central areas where Leeds did struggle at times. 6/10

Jack Clarke - First start but much quieter than his previous performances. Beat his man a few times but couldn’t get his cross right. Also did not see as much of the ball you would like him to. 6/10

Lewis Baker - Well struck free-kick which was parried to Halme’s feet for the equaliser. In truth though the free-kick was down the keepers throat and should not have been parried. Sloppy in possession and gave the ball away in dangerous areas. Shows nice touches at times to show he has natural talent but isn’t doing nearly enough with it. 4/10

Tyler Roberts - A bright spot playing in the number 10 role. Hit both posts with his first touch of the game, a well struck half-volley from 25 yards. Was at the heart of Leeds good play, especially in the first half. Wouldn’t be shocked to see Pablo move back to a wide role if he keeps this up. 7/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Not the same threat on the left as on the right, had a go from both sides today but couldn’t do enough in attack despite a couple of good efforts on goal. Good work rate again but that should be a given. Dropped to left-back for the last 10 minutes and gave away free-kicks with some fairly naive play. 5/10

Jack Harrison - Didn’t look comfortable with the centre-forward role. Often in the first half he seemed to be playing too deep to even be considered a “false-nine”. Had one back-post effort saved but never looked enough of a threat. 5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Tom Pearce (for Halme, HT) - The fact that he was subbed off with 10 minutes left doesn’t look great for him, Marcelo Bielsa has done that once before this season too. Didn’t think he was that bad but he was very quiet from full-back in a system where full-backs are a key position. Seemed reluctant to overlap at times which was strange for him. 5/10

Kun Temenuzhkov (for Pearce, 79mins) - Good to see the Bulgaria youth international make his debut but didn’t really have a chance during his time on the pitch. Leeds weren’t good enough in possession to get him the ball. 5/10

Clarke Oduor (for Davis, 87mins) - Not on long enough to score, sign of his progress in the u23s that he has managed to get a first team debut. N/A