Leeds United’s promotion push received a huge boost at the weekend with more twists and turns at the top of the Championship. Not only did Fulham dropping points mean the Whites increased their lead over third, but they also leapfrogged West Brom into pole position after the Baggies draw at Bristol City.
Marcelo Bielsa’s men were in confident mood at Elland Road on Saturday as shown by Luke Ayling’s incredible early strike.
We take a look at some key statistics from the last weekend of sides looking to reach the Premier League, as well as the individual players who shone or struggled elsewhere in the division.
1. Leeds United get success from flanks
Both of Leeds’ goals in the win over Huddersfield Town came via crosses. Marcelo Bielsa’s men created some of their best chances from the flanks. The 43.75% accuracy was one of their highest this season. Photo: George Wood
2. Townsend impresses despite West Brom dropping points
The left-back was one of the Baggies’ best players, creating two chances, while showing his quality defensively with six interceptions and six aerial duels won.. But West Brom struggled in front of goal, their xG of 0.66 well below their 1.47 season average. Photo: Catherine Ivill
3. Fulham’s passing drops below standard
Fulham missed a chance to close the gap on West Brom and weren’t helped by their passing. They played nearly 100 passes fewer than their average with their success rate dropping below 80% in the draw at Bristol City. Photo: Harry Trump
4. Dasilva shines for Brentford
Josh Dasilva was man of the match for the Bees in their 5-0 trouncing of Sheffield Wednesday. He scored two goals, created a chance, made five progressive runs, completed 91% of his passes and was successful with half his dribbles. Photo: Julian Finney
5. Freaky Friday for Forest
It was a Friday to forget for Nottingham Forest as they went down 3-0 to Millwall, all goals coming in the first half. The game showed that possession isn’t everything. Forest had more than 68% of the possession, way above their season average of 47.85%. Photo: Nathan Stirk
6. Off target Preston
Despite going down 3-1 to QPR at home on Saturday, Preston still managed to have a better xG than their opponents - 1.32 to 0.93. What it means that realistically they should not have been defeated. Yet they hit the target with just two of their ten shots. Photo: Lewis Storey