Match of the Day pundits single out ‘brilliant’ Leeds United star after Arsenal defeat

Match of the Day pundits Martin Keown and Danny Murphy were impressed by the performance of one Leeds United star during Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal. The Whites suffered a narrow defeat to the Premier League leaders at Elland Road, losing 1-0 to a Bukayo Saka winner. Leeds had chances, with Patrick Bamford missing a penalty, in what is becoming a running theme, Jesse Marsch’s men were made to pay for their missed chances.

It was a tough one to take for Leeds, and indeed Bamford, who is still regaining full fitness following his injury struggles. However, there were plenty of positives for the striker, who made a real impact after coming off the bench, causing Arsenal problems aplenty at the back.

And that was recognised by Match of the Day 2 pundit Keown. “If he could play every week, then Leeds would be sitting somewhat higher in the table,” claimed the former Arsenal star. “I just felt sorry for him today a little bit. Of course, I’m sitting there as an Arsenal times hiding behind the sofa, at times, because he was that good.

“He’s come off the bench, a minute or so in, you guys are all screaming because Arsenal fans, but I knew he pushed him. In the end, that was the case. But how expertly they press. It’s really brilliant, the way they do this.

“He’s (Bamford) a part of this press to get the ball back, and Arsenal were playing into their hands a little bit. It’s a ferocious atmosphere there. I haven’t seen anybody give these two central defenders this amount of problems. It’s a missed opportunity for Leeds, but these are the games, where if you want to be champions or what to challenge to be champions, you have to get the win, and Arsenal did.”

Keown’s Match of the Day teammate Murphy agreed with that assessment, praising Bamford and Leeds as a whole.

“He looks fit enough,” Murphy said of Bamford. “It’s confidence a lot of the time with strikers. They get a couple of goals and they feel more comfortable. He just seems to take too many touches, at times, trying to get that perfect finish, whereas, when you’ve been playing and you’ve got that rhythm, you get shots off much more quickly.

“But Leeds have got to turn those good performances into some points sooner rather than later. They did the same against Palace last week, played with good intensity, created chances and lost the game.”