After Patrick Bamford came out and said he believes Leeds United could have beaten Luton Town by a bigger margin, the stats have revealed some alarming shooting figures.
When speaking after the Luton match, Patrick Bamford said: “It’s a compliment to us that Luton sat back so deep and I think we forced them even deeper and whilst it is difficult, we probably could have won by a bigger margin.” The forward was certainly telling the truth, as his comment is backed up when looking at the number of chances the Whites wasted when playing against the Hatters.
The Peacocks had 21 shots with 12 of them being on target, however, this large number of chances only resulted in two goals. Leeds also had a staggering amount of the ball, with 74.7% of the total possession.
This season, Marcelo Bielsa’s side have averaged 16.6 shots each game, with 5.2 of them hitting the target. However, despite totalling 283 shots so far in the Championship this campaign, the Peacocks have only managed to turn them into 23 goals, which is a pretty poor return considering how many chances they’ve had. Leeds also control many of the matches they’ve played, averaging 59.6% possession across their 17 games this season.
The Peacocks are lacking a set-piece taker. The Elland Road outfit have been had the same number of own goals go in for them as they have scored a set-piece, with them both being three times. Bielsa’s most successful scoring route is in open play, with Leeds scoring 14 out of their 23 goals this way; a figure that ranks them 10th in the whole Championship.
Verdict
This is clearly an issue that Bielsa will need to fix ahead of the game against Reading, with the Royals averaging a lot fewer shots per game with 13.1 but have still managed to score 19 times in the Championship this season. The last six fixtures between the sides have been very mixed, with Leeds winning three of them and Reading winning two and there being just the one draw.
With Leeds currently 2nd in the Championship, this wastefulness hasn’t caught up with them yet, however, it could be argued that the Whites will be fortunate to gain promotion if they are going to waste chances as freely as the they currently are now.