We’re not expecting to find the next Stuart Dallas – but can any of Leeds United’s defenders present themselves as solid Fantasy Premier League (FPL) picks in 2025/26?
That’s the question we’ll be trying to answer in this look at the Championship winners’ backline.
To get a fan’s perspective, we’ve got input from our very own video editor Scott Worrall, a regular match-goer at Elland Road.
In case you missed it, our ‘The Promoted’ series has already profiled Daniel Farke and Leeds in a more general sense.
You can also find links to articles about Burnley below:
The stats in this piece are taken from Transfermarkt, WhoScored, Opta and FBref.
WHAT IS LEEDS UNITED’S CLEAN SHEET POTENTIAL?
|P|W|D|L|F|A|GD|CS|PTS|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Overall record|46|29|13|4|95|30|+65|25|100|
|Home|23|18|4|1|61|12|+49|14|58|
|Away|23|11|9|3|34|18|+16|11|42|
We’ve already touched upon Leeds’ defensive numbers a bit in the piece on Farke.
But it’s worth reiterating just how well the Whites performed defensively in 2024/25, despite Burnley stealing all the headlines.
We’ve gone back through all 24 Championship/First Division seasons in the Fbref database and no one could better Leeds’ 2024/25 tally of 25 shut-outs – other than Burnley in the same campaign, of course!
It’s been 14 years, indeed, since anyone matched Leeds’ total:
CHAMPIONSHIP SIDES IN THE LAST 15 SEASONS SORTED BY MOST CLEAN SHEETS
Team (season promoted) Goals conceded Clean sheets
Burnley (2024/25) 16 30
Leeds (2024/25) 30 25
QPR (2010/11) 32 25
Wolves (2017/18) 39 24
Watford (2020/21) 30 23
Leeds (2019/20) 35 22
Were it any other year, there’d be a lot more noise being made about the Whites’ rearguard.
And they managed those impressive numbers despite some self-sabotage.
Poor old Illan Meslier came in for a fair amount of flak last season, much of it sadly warranted.
The video below, posted at the end of March, just at the point of him being dropped, didn’t make for great viewing. As well as the notorious injury-time rick at Sunderland, his lack of penalty-area command and flapping are fairly evident.
All 27 goals Leeds have conceded this season.
It's absolutely clear we'd be promoted already if Farke had the bottle to drop Meslier much earlier in the season, for his and the team's benefit.#lufc pic.twitter.com/XSsyBQZAUu
— MesutFarke 🇺🇦 🇵🇱 🇦🇷🇩🇪 (@MesutFarkeson) March 30, 2025
Leeds, in fact, had a way better ‘expected goals against’ tally than Burnley last season: 29.6 v 39.1.
It’s hard not to come to the conclusion that a big difference was the quality of the goalkeepers for the respective sides:
|Save percentage|Post-shot expected goals – actual goals conceded (in layman’s terms, how many goals Opta deem the goalkeeper to have prevented)|
|---|---|---|
|James Trafford|84.5%|+11.8|
|Illan Meslier|72.7%|-0.4|
|Karl Darlow|72.7%|+0.5|
Leeds are reportedly seeking out a new first-choice goalkeeper this summer, so that weakness should be addressed. Burnley may also lose Trafford.
With Junior Firpo on the verge of leaving Elland Road, that’s another potential problem solved. Great going forward, his defending has long been very suspect. If Leeds can recruit a more defensively competent left-back, that could further stiffen them up.
“Leeds conceded the second-lowest number of goals in the history of the Championship last season, only conceding 30 goals in 46 games. Burnley conceded the least in history with 16.
“However, one of the main flaws with the Leeds team defensively last year was the goalkeeper Illan Meslier, someone who is expected to be replaced this summer and who was also dropped for the final seven matches of last season. Meslier made an immense number of mistakes throughout the season that the Burnley ‘keeper, Trafford, didn’t.
“This is shown in xG conceded. Although Burnley conceded 14 fewer goals than Leeds, the Whites comfortably conceded the lowest xG of anyone in the Championship.” – Scott Worrall
THE PLAYERS
2024/25: APPS, GOALS AND ASSISTS
Player Position Starts (sub apps) Mins Goals Assists
Joe Rodon CB 46 4136 1 0
Jayden Bogle RB 44 3836 6 4
Illan Meslier GK 39 3510 0 0
Sam Byram LB 16 (20) 1407 1 1
Pascal Struijk CB 31 (4) 2821 5 0
Junior Firpo LB 30 (2) 2622 4 10
Isaac Schmidt RB 0 (12) 71 0 0
Max Wöber CB 2 (6) 332 1 0
Karl Darlow GK 7 630 0 0
James Debayo CB 0 (1) 1 0 0
Before we start on a rundown of last season’s backline, a reminder that Leeds have already signed Jaka Bijol from Udinese.
You can read more about the Slovenian centre-half here.
Meanwhile, we’ll be including Ethan Ampadu in our midfielders/forwards article. His time at Leeds has been divided between centre-back and central midfield but with the Whites capturing one centre-half in Bijol and set to sign another, we’re assuming Ampadu’s Premier League run-outs will predominantly be in the engine room.
JAYDEN BOGLE
Bogle
Firpo may be on the cusp of leaving but another one of last season’s attacking full-backs remains.
Right-back Bogle started all but two of Leeds’ 46 Championship fixtures in 2024/25, his ever-present record only blemished by injury and suspension.
It’s worth discussing the latter: 12 bookings was the most that any Leeds player picked up last season.
Let’s talk more about the good, though.
A total of 47 shots was beaten by only one Championship defender:
Defender Shots
Jimmy Dunne (QPR) 55
Jayden Bogle (Leeds) 47
Harrison Burrows (Sheff Utd) 47
Mark McGuinness (Luton) 47
Six goals was also a figure that no other defender in the division could better. An xG of 6.06 saw Bogle pretty much match what was expected of him.
His goal threat almost entirely came from open play, too: only one of his 47 efforts arrived from a set piece.
Over 75% of his shots were taken from inside the opposition area, with seven of them from inside the six-yard box.
Bogle
Sofascore’s season heatmap above and the obligatory season highlights below show what Bogle is all about: driving forward, making infield runs and picking up plenty of shooting positions from inside the opposition area.
Jayden Bogle 24/25 🏆🔥
Minutes played – 3,834
Matches – 44
Goals – 6
Assists – 4
Championship Titles – 1
All for £5m btw. #LUFC
pic.twitter.com/L55KGhCxcT
— Anything Leeds (@AnythingLUFC) June 4, 2025
In terms of assist potential, Bogle was ranked 12th among Championship defenders for key passes (37). Firpo was definitely the more creative of the two Leeds full-backs, however: a chance created every 54.6 minutes compared to Bogle’s 103.7.
Right-back reinforcement is expected over the summer but Bogle may still start the season as the first choice in his position.
One to keep an eye on in pre-season, especially with a decent-ish opening run of games (ie playable in Gameweeks 1, 8 and 9 at least):
Bogle
“Initial options before signings, I’d be looking at Jayden Bogle. He played in a defence that conceded the lowest xG of any team in the Championship, while also registering six goals and four assists. Firpo also did well at left-back but looks set to move on and sign for Real Betis.” – Scott Worrall
PASCAL STRUIJK
Fantasy EFL Captaincy Poll: Gameweek 20
Leeds’ first-choice centre-half pairing last season was, mainly, Pascal Struijk and ever-present starter Joe Rodon. Ampadu stepped in at centre-back when Struijk was injured for two separate spells.
Struijk’s total of five goals catches the eye – especially considering that three of them were penalties.
The only one of Leeds’ four spot-kicks he didn’t take last season was the one that Joel Piroe converted in Matchday 30. Struijk was off the field at the time.
The goal threat doesn’t end there. Struijk had 25 other shots in his 31 starts and four substitute appearances. All but one of those efforts came from a set piece, mostly from his head.
Newly promoted centre-halves have been listed at £4.0m in the last two seasons. You’d think a penalty-taking defender would nevertheless be £4.5m, and that’s still an enticing price, given the clean sheets and set-piece attempts on offer as well.
The problem is more about whether Struijk will even be on the field. Bijol seems to be comfortable on either side, so it may be the Slovenian alongside Rodon in Gameweek 1. Again, pre-season may be telling.
JOE RODON
Fantasy EFL Double Gameweek 11: Top Picks for Sunday 2
Now for Mr Boring in terms of FPL picks.
He fits the bill of a £4.0m defender so, ironically, there may be more takers in him than Bogle/Struijk from those FPL managers uninterested in anything other than the cheapest pick for the fifth defender slot.
At the age of 27, he’s scored only two league goals in his entire career. Of the 22 Leeds players to have a goal attempt in 2024/25, his average of a shot every 197 minutes was the second-worst.
At least Rodon should get starts – we think.
The only Leeds player to start every single Championship fixture in 2024/25, he hasn’t missed a league game under Farke since October 2023.
Sebastiaan Bornauw looks set to sign and provide more competition at right-sided centre-back but having barely put a foot wrong last season, the thinking is that Rodon will be the go-to guy initially. We’re beating the same drum again but keeping an eye on pre-season minutes will be crucial.
Rodon also had the best rate of clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBIs, 14.9) among the Leeds defence last season. CBIs contribute to the Bonus Points System scores in FPL – and that’s a suitably tedious note on which to end this dullard entry.
ILLAN MESLIER/KARL DARLOW
We’ve already discussed Leeds’ goalkeepers in the first section of this piece, as well as mentioning that Farke will likely swoop for another shot-stopper this summer.
There’s not much left to say about these two, then.
Meslier began the season as number one, with Farke defying growing calls for him to be dropped.
"No."
Leeds boss Daniel Farke said he has no doubts about starting Illan Meslier in goal 👊 pic.twitter.com/VREYDazg27
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 19, 2025
Finally, at the beginning of April, even the loyal Leeds boss had had enough, and in came Darlow for the final seven fixtures. The Leeds fanbase sarcastically cheering every cross Darlow held onto after his recall showed the steep loss of faith in Meslier.
With only one year left on his contract, the Frenchman may be off this summer. It’d be a surprise if Darlow is anything other than back-up.
OTHER LEEDS DEFENDERS TO PLAY LAST SEASON
Fantasy EFL Captaincy Poll: Double Gameweek 31 1
Speaking of back-ups, we’re down to the dregs now.
Sam Byram, by some distance, saw the most game-time of the remaining Leeds defenders bar the exiting Firpo. Filling in for his positional rival when he was injured or suspended, Byram made 16 starts and a further 20 substitute appearances.
More of a solid defender than the gung-ho Firpo without being impenetrable himself, Byram only registered one goal and one assist in his limited pitch-time.
A chance created every 201 minutes was by some distance the worst rate of the Leeds full-backs. Bench duty probably beckons in 2025/26 despite Firpo’s exit.
We won’t waste much breath on the departing Dominican but four goals and 10 assists in 32 outings show that the incoming left-back has plenty of potential for attacking returns in Farke’s set-up.
As for the rest, Isaac Schmidt was Bogle’s long-suffering understudy at right-back. He didn’t make a single start.
The injury-prone Max Wober was already down the pecking order at centre-half and will likely leave this summer.
James Debayo meanwhile is a teenage centre-half who made the bench on 24 occasions last season – and only got off it once.