Leeds United currently sit fifth in the Championship after nine games but know they could quite easily be higher.
Daniel Farke’s side have actually only won four matches this season despite having the second highest expected goals (xG) with 15.8, and second lowest expected goals against (xGA) with seven.
Reflecting on the games in which Leeds dropped points, Farke could quite easily look at Portsmouth, Burnley, Norwich City and Sunderland as matches they should’ve taken more from.
Against Portsmouth, Leeds created enough chances to win three games, while their narrow defeat to Burnley was as a result of Manor Solomon’s error.
Leeds were also undoubtedly the better team at Carrow Road and according to Farke should’ve had a penalty at 1-1. Most recently, of course, Leeds were seconds away from a win at the Stadium of Light, but for Illan Meslier’s huge mistake.
Why Jayden Bogle has been let down by Leeds teammates
Farke has been pretty positive about his team this season but there is one particular criticism that has been a running theme.
The Leeds boss has frequently mentioned how improvement is needed in front of goal, and that is actually reflected in a statistic about Jayden Bogle.
Only five players across the entirety of the Championship have generated a higher expected assists (xA) tally than Bogle this season, which is a metric that estimates the likelihood of a pass resulting in a goal assist.
Bogle currently sits at an xA of 2.02 and has also made three big chances, yet has not managed a single assist in a Leeds shirt so far.
In fact, the £5 million summer signing from Sheffield United is the only player in the top 13 of the division for xA that hasn’t got an assist this season, showing that his teammates are wasteful when it comes to finishing off from his passes.
That is particularly impressive when you consider Tom Fellows – the highest assister in the division with five – has an xA tally which is only 0.41 higher than Bogle’s.
Bogle walking Leeds suspension tightrope
Bogle has started all nine Championship matches for Leeds this season but does find himself at risk of missing one soon.
The 24-year-old is already on four bookings so far this term and is therefore only one away from an automatic one-match ban.
Unfortunately, the cut-off point for this particular suspension is not until the 19th match of the season, meaning he has another 10 to get through.
Based on the rate he has been picking up yellow cards, it feels highly unlikely he will get through to that point without another.
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