5/10 Leeds star was nearly Farke’s villain vs Preston

A match containing teams from Yorkshire and Lancashire is usually a feisty affair with lots of zest to it and Leeds United vs Preston North End on Sunday afternoon was no different.

Ahead within a minute, the visitors to Elland Road played valiantly throughout but perhaps let the emotion of the encounter get the better of them late on.

Daniel James nodded home Leeds’ equaliser early in the first half but we had to wait until the death for Daniel Farke’s men to secure a precious 2-1 win.

After a series of scuffles, firstly after Archie Gray had been shoved into an advertising hoarding by Robbie Brady and then Ryan Ledson’s cynical tackle on Ilia Gruev, it sparked Elland Road and importantly, Leeds into life.

Brady came to the rescue late on to deny Patrick Bamford from finding the net but it was a last-gasp penalty that was to be Preston’s undoing after the ball struck the arm of that man Ledson again.

Joel Piroe, goalless in his last five games, stepped up and plundered the ball home, sparking utter bedlam behind the goal.

This wasn’t Leeds’ finest performance of the season, far from it, but they found a way to get over the line. Some of those in white, however, shouldn’t be spared of criticism. Georginio Rutter, so influential this term, failed to come up with the goods to trouble the Lilywhites.

Georginio Rutter vs Preston in numbers

Let’s set the record straight. For the vast majority of the campaign to date, Rutter has been a sensation for Farke’s side.

He has scored five goals and supplied nine assists from his 27 Championship outings but his powers have started to wane in recent months.

Indeed, after the win over Preston, Rutter has now failed to supply an assist in his last six league games while he has only found the net once in his last ten outings.

For Leeds who are chasing promotion, they need to start getting more from the 21-year-old. On Sunday afternoon, Rutter was unable to provide much creativity, notable only supplying one key pass in the entire match.

In fact, his passing was way off the mark all game, completing just 64% of his attempts. That led to the £36m signing ceding possession of the ball on 28 occasions. That’s a mind-blowingly high number and one that surpassed his average of losing possession 17 times per match this term quite comfortably.

Now, this stat is traditionally always higher for players who take risks with their play and that must be accounted for here, but the fact of the matter is that Leeds barely had a hope of carving open regular chances with his lack of productivity.

Also winning just five of his 20 contested duels throughout the game, it’s safe to say this was a “day of frustration” as Leeds Live reporter Beren Cross noted after handing him a 5/10 match rating.

His afternoon was perhaps best summed up not only by hitting the post but also by having been booked for diving, perhaps harshly. If that wasn’t bad enough, an attempted backheel failed to come off on the edge of the area. Leeds were in the middle of a vibrant attacking phase of play when that happened, but his efforts only received groans from those in the crowd.

Leeds got away with it today but in the middle of a promotion hunt it doesn’t matter how you play as long as you come away with three points. Despite Rutter’s performance Farke’s side got over the line and only increased the pressure on Southampton and Ipswich above them in second and third.