A look at Leeds’ defensive frailties after successive home hammerings

Leeds’ Premier League survival hopes have been dealt a huge blow by back-to-back 5-1 and 6-1 home defeats to Crystal Palace and Liverpool.

They have shipped 16 goals in their last four matches and now have the worst defensive record in the top flight, having conceded 60 this season.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at their defensive frailties.

Have Leeds always conceded easily back in top flight?

Yes they have. They had the seventh worst goals against record (54) in their first campaign following promotion (2020-21) and only bottom club Norwich (84) let in more last term when Leeds (79) escaped relegation on the final day. It is a continuation of a problem inherited by Javi Gracia that previous head coaches Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch failed to resolve.

Did Leeds strengthen with new defenders last summer?

Hardly. Right-back Rasmus Kristensen was the only new defender signed under Marsch last summer, while left-sided central defender Max Wober made the switch from Salzburg in January. Leeds opted to keep faith in the likes of skipper Liam Cooper, Robin Koch, Pascal Struijk, Luke Ayling and Junior Firpo.

Has that decision backfired?

It has, in hindsight. Kristensen has not consistently reached Premier League standards and, while Wober has added steel and consistency, the Austrian has missed the last four games through injury and has been sorely missed. Stuart Dallas has been a huge loss since fracturing his femur in April last year and the form of both Cooper and Ayling – key to Leeds’ success under Bielsa – has wavered.

What else has contributed to Leeds’ porous defence?

A collective frailty. When Leeds lose possession, Premier League opposition far too easily expose their defensive shape. Kalvin Phillips glued Leeds together before his departure to Manchester City last summer and, while Tyler Adams has been largely successful in replicating the role of protecting his back four, the United States captain’s five-match absence after hamstring surgery has been another big contributory factor.

Are the current defenders just not good enough?

Individual performances have not been up to standard and, as the pressure has mounted, the errors have got worse. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher offered his brutal verdict after they had been dismantled by Liverpool, saying: “Gracia’s come in, obviously Jesse Marsch came in for Bielsa, and they’ve got really poor defenders – really poor. They make big mistakes every time they play.” They are capable of better, but time is running out to prove Carragher wrong.

Where are all the leaders?

Cooper at his best plays a true captain’s role, but his struggles to get back in the side have left Leeds short of natural leaders. Without the omnipresent drive of Adams and the guile and experience of Dallas, Leeds have a soft underbelly, no better illustrated than in their last two matches when they appeared to be competitive before conceding the opening goal and then capitulating.