The Championship table is good viewing for Leeds United on Thursday morning after Wednesday night’s win over Millwall, as Daniel Farke’s side took advantage of poor results.
Bristol City equalised late on against Sheffield United to the fury of Chris Wilder on Tuesday, while Burnley and West Brom played out a 1-1 draw. Daniel Farke got his selection right, bringing Joe Rothwell back in.
Below, we look at three winners and three losers from the 2-0 win over Millwall, with a couple of players putting in some excellent performances – and one certainly, that produced his best display in a while.
Three winners from Leeds United’s 2-0 win over Millwall
Brenden Aaronson
Aaronson has had it tough of late. Just one goal involvement in his last 13 games and yet, Farke continues to start the American. His form has been so bad that Mauricio Pochettino has axed Aaronson for March.
Farke praised Aaronson as “excellent” on the night and Aidy White said Aaronson produced his best form for a while. Certainly, Aaronson was excellent – even winning nine of his 14 duels during the victory.
Joe Rothwell
Leeds needed an injection of energy and insurgency against Millwall after the defeat to Portsmouth and the on-loan midfielder provided it. Rothwell was superb on the night, probably the best on the pitch.
Driving runs, a few interceptions and some excellent passes – it was Rothwell that made the first goal. It will provide Farke with a headache going to QPR on Saturday with Farke often picking Ilia Gruev, away.
Jayden Bogle
Tuesday night was the cut-off for yellow card suspensions and Bogle has been on nine yellow cards for a while, with the threat of a tenth yellow and a two-game ban. But, he came through unscathed last night.
The £5m signing was guilty of pulling back a Millwall player late on but thankfully for Leeds, the referee kept his cards in his pocket. Bogle then, can now play without the threat of picking up a two-game ban.
Three losers from Leeds United’s 2-0 win over Millwall
Ilia Gruev
Not really much of his doing, even if he was largely poor against Portsmouth – like every other player – but simply because Rothwell was excellent. Surely, if Rothwell is good to go, he starts at QPR on Saturday.
That will be a blow for Gruev, and his long-term future at Leeds will come into question. If he is struggling to get into the side now with new signings expected, will Gruev remain at Elland Road if Leeds go up?
Joel Piroe
Ah, poor unlucky Joel. Stuck on 15 goals, Piroe could easily have had a hat-trick on Sunday if he scores his two golden chances and Leeds are awarded a penalty for a blatant foul from Matt Ritchie on Dan James.
Against Millwall, Aaronson and Piroe combined to score a delightful goal – only for the linesman to flag offside. Replays showed he was one and Aidy White thinks the linesman made a clear error in flagging.
Not only has Piroe been unfairly cheated out of a good goal, but Borja Sainz scored for Norwich the night prior and it means Piroe is now second in the Championship goalscoring charts. Unlucky for the striker.
Dan James
If any player looked perhaps below their best on Wednesday night, it was James. The Welshman looked tired and lost the ball on a number of occasions, with FotMob reporting he lost a whopping 11 duels.
Dan James stats for Leeds in win vs Millwall:
- 89 minutes played, 6.2 FotMob rating (worst for Leeds)
- Three shots off target, four touches in opposition box
- Just 39 touches, 11 successful passes, nine misplaced
- Two tackles attempted, 0 tackles successful
- Five duels won, 11 duels lost
There will be an argument on Saturday to drop James, especially given he will be in action for Wales during the break. He needs a rest and Farke needs to take into account his amount of game time.
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