Leeds icon states Daniel Farke should not be worried about ‘vital’ star’s form
Leeds United have made a solid start to life back in the Premier League, though one summer arrival’s form could be an early concern.
Daniel Farke’s side have acquired eight points from their opening seven games, with Leeds’ 2-1 defeat to Tottenham before the international break leaving the Whites 15th in the table.
Leeds return to action with a match against Burnley, a contest which could prove crucial at the end of the season.
Their is just a four point gap between Leeds and the bottom three, with club wanting to avoid an immediate return to the second tier.
Jermaine Beckford tells Leeds fans to be patient with Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Leeds have had an issue scoring goals this season, with just seven scored in as many matches.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin joined Leeds as a free agent from Everton with hope that the 28-year-old could score the goals to keep the club safe from relegation.
Speaking to Leeds Live [13 October] former striker at the club Jermaine Beckford believes that supporters should not judge Calvert-Lewin solely on goals scored.
“I genuinely hate putting dates and games as timelines [on scoring], because these players offer so much more than just the goals,” Beckford said.
“Dominic holds the ball up, he’s pinning the defender, he’s got another one closing him down. He sets the ball off to Ethan Ampadu or somebody else in the middle to spread the ball out to the other side.
“The ball gets crossed in and somebody else scores a goal – it’s not Dominic that scored, but Dominic has been a key vital part of that machine, of that situation, to score the goal.
“Now, if he does that in two, three, four, five, six games in a row and doesn’t score, are we going to judge him on that or not scoring? Or are we going to judge him on his overall gameplay, on what he offers the team, the outlet, the positivity, the energy, pinning the centre-halves, the occupying the centre-halves?
“That’s what we’ve got to look at. We can’t just judge him on the goals that he scores or doesn’t score, in my opinion.
“The most important thing now from being a fan is that we all get behind and stay behind these boys because they’re getting the chances. It’s frustrating but we’re never going to score every single opportunity.
“We don’t have Erling Haaland at the club who is an absolute goal machine. But what we do have are fully fit centre-forwards who are capable of scoring a lot of goals. You know, it’s just patience and persistence. That’s all it is.”
Calvert-Lewin has only scored one Premier League goal in five appearances for the club so far.
Leeds have goalscoring problem amid Calvert-Lewin form
Leeds fans slammed Calvert-Lewin for his performance against Spurs, and the striker is starting to regain his fitness after three consecutive 90 minutes.
With key matches against Burnley and West Ham coming up, Farke needs Calvert-Lewin to step up with fellow striker Lukas Nmecha having not scored since his winning penalty against Everton on the opening matchday.
| Minutes Played | 357 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Expected Goals | 1.34 |
| Shots | 9 |
| Shots on target | 7 |
Leeds’ top scorer is Noah Okafor with just two goals, so it is clear where Farke needs to improve either on the training pitch or in the January transfer window.
Despite a sturdy defence, scoring so few goals will hinder Leeds’ survival ambitions.