Player Ratings: Leeds United 1-1 Leicester City

Leeds United were much improved in their performance, gaining a point at home against Leicester, and could’ve even won the game.

Illan Meslier (7): Solid showing from the Iceman, good distribution and his biggest save coming when Cooper gave the ball away to Tielemans. Reacted so quickly to come out and smother the ball. A small mistake was when he mis-controlled a Cooper back pass, with the ball just sliding past the post, could’ve been much worse.

Liam Cooper (6.5): Good for the most part, but he made two or three mistakes that might’ve been more costly on another day.

Diego Llorente (7): Another performance that you’d say was ‘solid’. Might’ve had his angles covered slightly better for Leicester’s goal, but did his job pretty well.

Pascal Struijk (7): Filling in at left-back in this one, and the Dutchman did a good job here. He’s not your typical Bielsa full-back, but he’s always been capable of playing on the left side of the defence. Positioning was particularly good in terms of judging when to go forward and how far up he’ll sit.

Stuart Dallas (7.5): Mr. Reliable strikes again with a great performance at right-back. He and Raphinha linked up well and provided constant energy throughout the game.

Kalvin Phillips (7): Did well, but was caught out on the ball once or twice in this one. Phillips and Forshaw was a nice combination, allowing KP to press higher and play more of a destroyer role.

Adam Forshaw (8): Probably Leeds’ best performer. Cool on the ball, positioned himself well and kept Leeds ticking when building out from the back. Energetic and clever with his passing. So great to see him play so well, especially considering he hasn’t played 90 minutes in the league for two years.

Rodrigo; Harrison; James (7): Rodrigo looks like he’s starting to settle in his role, pulling the strings in the middle without Bamford up top, who’d usually be attacking the six-yard box and providing more physicality. This attacking line-up is so different without him, and he’s been able to find more space with his forward runs.

Harrison’s performance was much more like the Harrison that we know. Great on the ball, gets his head up, always looking to get a cross in. Again, no Bamford meant nobody properly attacking the six-yard box, and that makes Harrison’s job harder, but he did well in this one.

Personally, I’ve not really been convinced by Dan James so far, though I will say that it’s rare that Bielsa throws a new player into the mix straight away, nevermind asking him to play a complex role in this attack, again, trying to make up for Bamford’s absence. His pressing was superb, and he won the ball in the Leicester half a few times. Better on the ball but his final product still needs something, namely accuracy.

Raphinha (7.5): The goalscorer, and of course, the main man in this team. He was a little quieter in the second half, but he was his usual self. Energetic on and off the ball, linked up really well with Dallas as the over-and under-lapping worked much better in this one, and he provided real danger with a couple of nice passes too.