Leeds United 0-1 Brighton - Ben White's good day, Rodrigo's bad day and the Kalvin Phillips turning point

The Brighton defender, playing in a midfield role in front of a back three, was excellent and served a reminder of the performances the Whites enjoyed last season during his loan spell.

It was not such a good day for his former team-mates, however, who failed to shine as brightly in a 1-0 defeat.

Good day

Ben White

White proved last season that he was too good to stay in the Championship and he is proving good enough to stay in the Premier League. His performance against Leeds was excellent, on and off the ball. A Rolls Royce. He was able to take the ball off Raphinha and drive Brighton up the pitch, creating a shooting chance for himself. On other occasions he stopped Leeds in their tracks and played a smart game, shadowing both Pascal Struijk and Mateusz Klich on different occasions.

Bad day

Rodrigo

Bielsa believes the Spaniard has recovered his physical level but it hasn't looked that way in a number of games since his period out of training with Covid-19. He has faded from fixtures in the second half, but against Brighton he appeared to be struggling to play to the necessary tempo in the first half. In terms of his performance, there was no real joy. He missed a good chance early on and created very little. His head coach did point out that Leeds' creative output had diminished, not necessarily just Rodrigo's but everyone, the player included, will want more the next time he plays.

Turning point

Saturday, January 2

Kalvin Phillips' yellow card at Spurs was his fifth of the season and ruled him out of this game. Had he played, Leeds might not have won but he would have been a much needed presence in the middle. He's learned how to get Leeds playing forward even when teams are trying to do a number on him and Leeds had very few players capable of that in the first half. He was a big miss. Pascal Struijk struggled in the position.

Number of the day

2

Each side had two shots on target and Brighton showed you need only one, if the chance you create is of a high enough quality. Neal Maupay couldn't miss at the back post, with Leeds completely unlocked and Kiko Casilla blameless but stranded all the same. Leeds struggled to create anything as good as that all afternoon. It's rare that they don't cause teams a lot of problems but Brighton were comfortable, defensively. That's the main source of worry for the Whites, who have attacked well against much better sides than Graham Potter's Seagulls.