Premier League half-term report part 1 - Graham Smyth's ratings for Leeds United's goalkeepers and defenders

The aim is to finish anywhere in the top 17 places and with half of their league fixtures complete, Marcelo Bielsa's Whites sit 12th, 13 points clear of the relegation zone.

Draws with Arsenal and Manchester City and victories over Everton, West Brom and Newcastle, who were thrashed at Elland Road and pipped 2-1 at St James' Park, have shown that at least one of this season's newly promoted sides can be competitive.

A number of Bielsa's players have shown remarkable consistency, despite the step up in competition and the world-class quality possessed by the teams they face on a weekly basis.

Here's the first part of our half-term report, focusing on the goalkeepers and defenders in Bielsa's squad, with the average match rating they're received from the YEP.

Goalkeepers

Illan Meslier - 7.3

At 20 years of age, Meslier has shown incredible maturity in handling the challenge of Premier League football. There have been mistakes, but not many, and his mistakes have often been followed by terrific saves or composed performances, which says a lot about his confidence and mental strength. His distribution is usually very good, his shot stopping ability has matched it and despite Leeds' fragility when it comes to defending set-pieces, he's trying to take a lot of responsibility to deal with deliveries into the box.

Kiko Casilla - 5.3

The Spaniard has made just three appearances this season, two of which came in cup games. Leeds performed dreadfully as a team in each of those fixtures, against Hull City and Crawley, which has to be taken into account. But his individual performance at Crawley was not good at all, bringing his average rating right down. Casilla's only Premier League outing was a 1-0 defeat to Brighton, for which he was blameless and largely a spectator.

Defenders

Stuart Dallas - 7.2

Mr Consistent in the Championship has carried on where he left off, by and large. He's shown that he can still do a job at right-back, left-back or, as seen against Newcastle this week, in the middle of the pitch. While the club were keen to add Premier League quality last summer, it's now clear they already possessed some in the squad. Dallas has proven beyond doubt he's in that category. Even in the mauling at Manchester United, Dallas was tidy in his performance and scored a lovely goal.

Luke Ayling - 6.8

Ayling, at right-back, has had good days and not so good days but there have been more positive performances than poor ones. There are some lightning quick, terrifyingly skilled wingers in the top flight but he has never disgraced himself. At centre-back he gave Leeds great mobility, carrying the ball out to good effect and bypassing the initial press of opposition attacks. A very solid performer so far this season.

Robin Koch - 6.8

Koch was beginning to show exactly why Victor Orta has been such a big fan for so long, when suddenly he was gone, out of the team and into rehabilitation following knee surgery. What made some of his early season performances all the more impressive was the knowledge that he first damaged his knee against Liverpool in the opener and has been playing through the pain barrier. A player most Leeds fans can't wait to see return.

Liam Cooper - 6.6

Cooper's main issue this season has been injuries, to himself and his central defensive partners. When he's been fit, others have not been, meaning he's played with Ayling, Pascal Struijk, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente in the middle of the defence. His own performances have been just fine, overall. A few shaky moments and the set-piece issue aside, he's defended very well against elite attacks.

Gjanni Alioski - 6.1

Defensively, Alioski has looked suspect from time to time. But what you can say about the livewire left-back is that he very rarely has two poor performances in a row. He's also shone on at least a couple of occasions. His real strength lies in going forward and linking up with Jack Harrison. Goals against Newcastle and West Brom are his obvious highlights. When everyone is fit, he might find his game time reduced but Bielsa, who admits the 28-year-old is going through a period of development, trusts him to do the left-back role.

Pascal Struijk - 6

A small number of poor displays aside, the 21-year-old has done a job. At Aston Villa he took Jack Grealish's bait and an early yellow card, necessitating an early substitution. That night, the Crawley horrorshow for which so many others were also culpable and games where he struggled to deputise for Kalvin Phillips, make his overall rating harsher than it perhaps ought to be. He's 21, his centre-half performances have been solid enough and he has shown glimpses of a passing ability that will help him become an excellent ball-playing central defender. What's more, Bielsa clearly rates him highly. Injuries to others have given him opportunities beyond his wildest expectations going into this season and he is doing more than enough to justify his role in the squad.

Diego Llorente - 6

Llorente's only player rating came in the game against Chelsea, when he came off the bench after just nine minutes to replace the injured Koch. Llorente himself was just back from an injury and did okay in that performance, despite the defeat and Leeds' lack of control against a team playing very well. Sadly, he pulled up right at the end of the game and we didn't see him again until midweek, when he lasted 10 minutes against Newcastle before trudging off with a fresh injury and a pained, devastated expression. What we saw in his 23s cameo was encouraging and hopefully this latest setback is not a major one. The jury is still out because we simply haven't seen enough of him.