Journalist Conor McGilligan has praised Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier for his ‘improved’ performance and gave him the man of the match award after the Whites’ tough 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.
With only five games left of the Premier League season, Jesse Marsch’s Leeds find themselves in the middle of a battle for their lives as they could potentially face relegation come the end of the campaign. They currently sit 16th in the table, only five points ahead of Everton, who occupy the final relegation zone place and have one game in hand over the West Yorkshire team, making things as close as they can be for Leeds.
They need to pick up as many points as they can between now and the end of the season to confirm a comfortable finish, but with their next three games being Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea, they might not find themselves so lucky. That is why their hard-fought point against Crystal Palace on Monday night after being second-best throughout the 90 minutes was very crucial to their hopes of survival.
Palace boasted the better share of the possession with 52.5% and outshot Leeds with 17 to 9 attempts, with 7 on target to Leeds’ 2. This meant that Leeds goalkeeper Meslier had a lot of work to do to keep his team in with a chance of taking something from this important game. He finished with seven saves, including an impressive double-stop near the end of the game from Wilfried Zaha, who looked as dangerous as ever.
This solid performance caught the eyes of many, including journalist McGilligan, who expressed his elation at Meslier’s performance on Twitter, stating: “Meslier my MOTM.
“Really good to see an improved performance from him.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds and Meslier…
Leeds still have a lot to do in order to secure their Premier League safety and their next three fixtures, as mentioned above, could prove to be tricky, and coming away with any points at all will be a positive for the Yorkshire team.
Marsch will need all of his available players playing to their full potential and Meslier gave the American manager and Leeds fans an example of this last night. After his seven saves on Monday night, he became the leading goalkeeper in saves in the entire Premier League with the game becoming his 12th outing where he has recorded five or more saves.
He had 49 touches on the night and received a match rating of 8.9 from SofaScore for his efforts.
Will Leeds stay up?Yes
No
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There is every chance Leeds get relegated this season as they have one of the toughest run-ins from this point onwards – something Burnley and Everton may be able to use to their advantage. If they have any hope of retaining their top-flight status, they will need Meslier to keep up this elite form while Marsch figures out how to put more balls in their opponents’ net.