Leeds United and Manchester United drew 1-1 at Elland Road in a game that was much more fought and contested than actually played.
Both the Whites and the Red Devils maintained their unbeaten runs in the Premier League with the result. Leeds have now gone seven games without a loss and Man United three.
But a lot of them have been draws, which doesn’t exactly help either team in the table. Daniel Farke’s men are still 16th – though eight points clear of West Ham in the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Man United sit 5th, but could end the current matchweek as low as 9th.
What were the common themes throughout Leeds 1-1 Manchester United?
More fight than football
Leeds United vs Manchester United wasn’t easy on the eyes. Both teams showed a lot of heart and grit and fought for the ball for all 90 minutes without exception. But for most of the match, there was not much else other than that.
They combined for just 76.6% passing accuracy, the eighth lowest tally in a Premier League game this season.
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It felt like both sides got caught in transitions all the time, trying to accelerate play but never getting to where they wanted. As a result, the ball was always in contest and not actually in possession for either team.
Over half of the match happened in the middle third of the pitch (53%), as opposed to 21% in Leeds’ defending third and 26% in Man United’s defending third.
Going forward, set pieces, long and/or through balls set the tone for most of the affair. The technical aspect of the game was not very much on display. All in all, the draw was a fair result.
Leeds’ bullying style
This hard-fought type of game actually favours Leeds. They have leaned on phisicality in terms of team-building and recruitment and it’s a big reason why they have improved as of late. Dragging opponents down to the mud is a big trait of their current personality.
Daniel Farke tried to remove Man United’s first phase of build-up by having his men press high up the pitch whenever possible. The match as a whole fell off a little in terms of intensity in the second half relative to the first half, but they managed to ‘rush’ the Red Devils.
Their goal actually came in such manner. Diogo Dalot failed to keep a passing sequence together and a Pascal Struijk clearance turned into an assist as Ayden Heaven reacted slowly and Brenden Aaronson charged ahead of him, placing the ball past Senne Lammens in the bottom-right corner.
Leeds had fewer possession, shot attempts and big chances, but made their presence known at all times.
| Stats | Leeds United | Manchester United |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 45% | 55% |
| Shots (on target) | 10 (3) | 15 (2) |
| Big chances | 1 | 3 |
Dominic Calvert-Lewin failed to score but hit the post with a dangerous header in the first half. He also did his job as a target man holding up play, winning five of his nine duels (and three out of four in the air).
Manchester United’s central attack
Ruben Amorim tried to hurt Leeds in central areas from the start, but leaned on this strategy even more in the second half.
Early on, there were a lot of attempts to go forward using Benjamin Sesko as a target man dropping deep to drag defenders out of position. Then, the idea was to get the ball to Casemiro who would quickly switch play to one of the wing-backs – mostly Luke Shaw on the left.
The Brazilian was their main distributor in the match, leading the Red Devils in every creative department.
Key Casemiro stats:
- 93 touches (Ranked #1)
- 72 passes attempted (Ranked #1)
- 4 chances created (Ranked #1)
- 2 big chances created (Ranked #1)
After the break, and especially following Leeds’ goal and Joshua Zirkzee coming on for Leny Yoro, the effort to work in central areas increased.
Man United actually concentrated their attacking actions more in the central corridor than on the right or the left in the second half.
Ruben Amorim had his front-three of Matheus Cunha, Zirkzee and Sesko playing in close proximity and generating doubt on opponents.
Daniel Farke obviously wouldn’t lead his three centre-backs forward as the Man United trio dropped deep. And then Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte would try to engage their midfielders to leave room for the forwards to operate in.
It worked instantly as they equalised via a Cunha goal from a Zirkzee assist in what was the Dutchman’s first touch of the game. Just seconds before, there was also a failed attempt of a one-two between Cunha and Sesko, but the Slovenian striker left his pass short.
So the intentions were clear and as soon as Zirzkee came on, it beared fruit. Considering all the attacking absences Amorim is dealing with, he could lean more on the Dutchman – who assisted today and scored last time out vs Wolverhampton Wanderers.