Leeds Player Ratings: Leeds 4 - 0 West Brom

Leeds United produced what I consider their new best performance of the season to sweep West Bromwich Albion aside and claim a fantastic 4-0 victory, and with it a return to the top of the Championship table for Marcelo Bielsa’s men.

A Pablo Hernandez goal after 17 seconds set the tone before two Patrick Bamford goals sealed the game. Leeds then added a fourth in stoppage time through Ezgjan Alioski.

For a full recap of the absolute brilliance read Pete’s piece here.

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

Kiko Casilla - Instilled some confidence by coming out and claiming some crosses well, although he did miss one which Hal Robson-Kanu headed over. Made a good save from a good effort from distance by Jay Rodriguez. Didn’t have great deal to do, his kicking could have been better as he put a fair few straight out of play. First clean sheet for him in a Leeds shirt. 7.5/10

Luke Ayling - Good performance. Defended well when he needed to and was calm on the ball. Not faultless in his passing but looked closer to the form we have seen previously from him. Says a lot that Dwight Gayle played mostly from the left and you could have easily forgot he was playing. 8/10

Pontus Jansson - Another in the long list of performances that have me calling him the best defender in the Championship. Utterly dominant. Great in the air, and his pressing to make interceptions in the first half was a huge factor in Leeds performance. Jay Rodriguez’s only real effort was from 35 yards which is a testament to both Jansson and Liam Cooper. Was really good on the ball. Colossal. 9/10

Liam Cooper - Everything I just said about Jansson’s performance tonight is also true of Cooper. Made fewer interceptions but made more tackles. Started the move for the opening goal with a really aggressive header to set Harrison away down the left and set the tone for the performance. Brilliant performance from the captain. 9/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Watching this performance from Alioski is enough to make you exhausted. Never stopped running. Made more tackles than anyone else on the pitch. Held his own in the air yet again. Got forward well and when he moved further forward following Stuart Dallas’ introduction he got his 7th goal of the season, having already gone close with a good effort from the edge of the area. Think he just takes my Man of the Match award, but there were many you could make a case for. 9.5/10

Kalvin Phillips - Whether it is Phillips or Forshaw, I think this position is key to Leeds having a good performance. Today, Phillips was excellent.

Bossed the match in midfield. Excellent defensive work and produced some good quick passes to start attacks. Lots of good tackles, one in particular on Rekeem Harper who was running at full pace which was truly a terrific challenge. Drove Leeds forward himself on occasion as well and had a decent effort on goal. An exemplary Defensive Midfield display. 9/10

Mateusz Klich - A really good performance and only goes a little under the radar because everyone around him was so good. A few good efforts on goal and some very good passing in the middle of midfield. Solid work defensively as well when needed. 8/10

Pablo Hernandez - Scoring a screamer after 17 seconds was a pretty good start. Constantly looking to create and although not all the passing attempts came off he was a constant threat. Great to see him so creative, even better to see his teammates helping him out in that regard. 8.5/10

Tyler Roberts - Best performance in a Leeds shirt. Started out a little sloppily as he lost the ball 3 times in quick succession. However, he soon turned that around and produced a fantastic display in the number 10 role. Two good assists for the two Patrick Bamford goals, excellent movement, and also did his share defensively and in Leeds’ excellent press. The position is yours to lose now. 9/10

Jack Harrison - One of his better performances for Leeds. Good pass to set up Hernandez for the opening goal. Worked really hard all game and made Mason Holgate look very average on that side. 8/10

Patrick Bamford - His link-up play was vastly improved from Tuesday night and he lead the press from the front very well. Kept working hard when being constantly fouled by the West Brom centre-backs and never got a decision from the referee. Scored two good goals and hopefully this is confidence boost he needed. Looked every bit the player we hoped we were signing from Middlesbrough in the summer. 9/10

SUBSTITUTES

Stuart Dallas (for Harrison, 76mins) - Came on and did a solid job but the game was already over. 6.5/10

Jamie Shackleton (for Roberts, 91mins) - On for about 90 seconds. Got in down the right to get a good assist from Alioski’s goal. Not really on long enough to score but... 7.5/10