Leeds United are one of the form teams in the Championship right now but there still remains room for improvement.
Since the turn of the New Year, Leeds have won all five of their league matches to claw themselves back into the race for the top two. However, they have certainly made things a little hard for themselves in some of those games.
Leeds beat Preston North End, Norwich City and Bristol City all by a one-goal margin and it’s fair to say – particularly against the latter – there is no way it should’ve ended that close.
Against Bristol City, Leeds missed chance after chance either side of Willy Gnonto’s winner, with the best one falling to Georginio Rutter inside the six-yard box in the first half.
And according to the Athletic, Rutter is actually statistically the most ‘wasteful’ player in front of goal in the Championship, with the highest underperformance of his xG.
Rutter most ‘wasteful’ player in front of goal
The article states that Rutter has amassed an xG of 9.3 so far this season but has managed just five goals. Had he been a bit more clinical this season, he would’ve already been close to double figures.
That aforementioned chance missed at Bristol City actually had an xG value of 0.88, which is actually higher than a penalty. His goal at Plymouth on Tuesday should give him confidence, though.
These sort of things do tend to balance themselves out over a season and so there may be a time where Rutter hits a bit of a hot streak, providing he continues to get himself in the right positions.
At the same time, it is also hugely difficult to criticise Rutter for too much given what he offers the term in terms of creativity. He is arguably the most important player in Leeds’ attack, with the way he links play.
As per Sofa Score, only Abdul Fatawu of Leicester City has created more big chances in the Championship than Rutter, and so without his creativity, Leeds wouldn’t be anywhere near as high in the league as they are now.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
