Leeds United dominant on statistics against Sheffield United but Blades net completely off radar

LEEDS UNITED'S Championship loss at home to Sheffield United featured 17 shots at goal but not a single effort on target with the Whites' dominance on the statistics counting for nothing.
By Lee Sobot
Published 17th Mar 2019, 11:39 BST
Updated 17th Mar 2019, 11:43 BST
AGONY: Another Leeds United chance goes begging for Tyler Roberts who was unlucky to hit the post.AGONY: Another Leeds United chance goes begging for Tyler Roberts who was unlucky to hit the post.
AGONY: Another Leeds United chance goes begging for Tyler Roberts who was unlucky to hit the post.

Eight of United's attempts at goal were blocked with nine off target and Tyler Roberts unlucky to hit the woodwork in the second half.

Comparatively, the Blades managed just ten attempts at goal with six blocked, three on target and crucially one on target which led to Chris Basham scoring the only goal of the game.

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Four of United's attempts at goal came from striker Patrick Bamford with Roberts having three cracks at goal and Gjanni Alioski next with two.

Every outfield player apart from skipper Liam Cooper had an attempt but crucially nobody was able to make the breakthrough.

Leeds again dominated on the statistics with 70 per cent of possession and 792 touches of the ball compared to Sheffield United's 445.

Marcelo Bielsa's men made 555 passes compared to the Blades' 234 with 457 of United's passes accurate as opposed to only 135 accurate from the visitors.

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That gave Leeds an 82 per cent passing success rate, compared to Sheffield United's 58.

But the Blades won more aerial duels and made more successful tackles and crucially avoided any errors that led to a goal with Liam Cooper's lapse letting in Billy Sharp to set up Basham's strike in the 71st minute.

Over the season as a whole, Leeds boast the most shots per game in the Championship with 15.9 but four more teams have netted more than the Whites' tally of 63, with Sheffield United now better with 64, behind Aston Villa (68), West Brom (72) and Norwich City (77).