So far, 2025 has been a frustrating year for Leeds United who are yet to win in the Championship. Instead, they’ve been held to draws against Blackburn Rovers and now Hull City.
Leeds United are winless in the New Year. They’ve also seen their lead at the top of the Championship table shrink to just a single point after back-to-back draws in the league, with Burnley and Sheffield United both winning on Saturday.
They’ve closed in on Leeds who drew 3-3 away at Yorkshire rivals Hull City. The Whites had actually come from a goal behind to lead the game 3-1, but for the Tigers scoring two goals late on.
The second one has brought about a lot of debate over Illan Meslier. Leeds United fans are fuming with Meslier who pushed the ball back into play, and into the path of Joao Pedro who scored, despite the ball looking as though it was going out of play.
Will Daniel Farke drop Illan Meslier after Hull City stinker?
Speaking to the press after the game, Meslier was unsurprisingly a huge talking point. Daniel Farke spent a lot of time talking about the Frenchman, who he defended, instead suggesting the team as a whole weren’t at their best.
Farke then went on to discuss Meslier’s spot in the XI with a lot of Leeds fans on social media calling for change, with this Hull City game not the first where Meslier has cost the Whites points.
The Leeds boss told LeedsLive: “When the goalkeeper makes one or two mistakes it is natural to talk about changes. We don’t change a goalkeeper quickly like a full-back.
“There is no rule that a player is not dropped. If a centre-back was to score loads of own goals he would be dropped. But straight after the game I am not going to finger point.”
Illan Meslier surely stays at Leeds United in January now
Going into January, Meslier was one of the most in demand players at Elland Road. Reports claimed that Arsenal and Manchester United are interested in Meslier, who’s also had links to Rennes and Fiorentina.
But after that Hull City game, Meslier surely misses out on a big move away from Leeds in January. Not only was that second goal his fault, but Hull’s first as arguably the fault of Meslier too.
The 24-year-old just didn’t look assuring throughout the game. Whilst he’s racked up an impressive 14 clean sheets in 25 league games this season, he makes too many costly errors, and it’ll continue to see Leeds United drop points in the race for promotion.
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