Leeds United goalkeeper Karl Darlow made his first appearance of the season in the Premier League on Saturday because of Lucas Perri's injury.
The Wales international made three saves, including one impressive stop from a free-kick, before Gabriel Gudmundsson found the top corner of his own net in the 94th minute.
Perri's injury provided the former Newcastle United stopper with an opportunity to strut his stuff in the Premier League, but it also meant that Illan Meslier made the bench for the first time this season.
Why Illan Meslier is a Leeds outcast this season
The French goalkeeper has played 214 matches for the West Yorkshire outfit in all competitions, per Transfermarkt, and was the number one option in goal from the 2020/21 season until he was dropped near the end of last term.
Leeds United's Illan Meslier arrives at the stadium
Meslier let in 2.73 more goals than expected based on the xG of the shots against him in the Championship last season. He also made three errors that directly led to goals for the opposition.
His errors eventually convinced Daniel Farke to bring Darlow in as the number one for the last seven games, which helped the Whites to clinch the title.
Then, this summer, Leeds decided that Meslier was not good enough to be first or second choice in the Premier League, as evidenced by their move to sign Lucas Perri as the new number one with Darlow as his back-up.
The French goalkeeper is an outcast in the current squad, only to be called upon if both Perri and Darlow are unavailable, and that is because of his poor performances on the pitch last term.
Leeds United's Illan Meslier celebrates after the match
Leeds have another star who may be on his way to becoming the next Meslier in Joel Piroe, who has had a difficult start to the Premier League season.
Why Joel Piroe could be the next Illan Meslier for Leeds
The Dutch striker, who signed from Swansea for a fee of £10m in the summer of 2023, was immense for the Whites in the Championship last term, scoring 19 goals in the division.
Piroe was the top scorer in the league, ahead of the likes of Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent, and an integral part of Farke's team with the goal threat that he provided in the final third.
However, a concern heading into the Premier League season was that the left-footed centre-forward does not have the physical profile of a typical number nine in the division, as he tends to struggle out of possession.
24/25 Championship Joel Piroe per 90 Percentile rank vs STs
Dribble success rate 31.8% Bottom 27%
Successful dribbles 0.41 Bottom 35%
Fouls won 0.44 Bottom 9%
Duels won 2.24 Bottom 3%
Duel success rate 26.9% Bottom 10%
Aerial duels won 0.90 Bottom 12%
Aerial duel success rate 21.4% Bottom 17%
Stats via FotMob
As you can see in the table above, the £40k-per-week striker ranked very poorly among his positional peers in the division in a host of physical and out-of-possession metrics.
Piroe was described as "anonymous" by reporter James Marshment back in February, which is what he can, unfortunately, be when Leeds do not have it all their own way with the ball, as they often will not in the Premier League.
joel-piroe-championship-leeds
The Dutch striker won 9% of his duels and failed to score a goal or create a 'big chance' for the team in the first two matches of the Premier League season, per Sofascore, before he was an unused substitute in the 0-0 draw with Newcastle and missed the loss to Fulham through injury.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha, who scored the club's only league goal this season against Everton, were signed to compete with Piroe for his position up front in the summer transfer window.
everton-leeds-lukas-nmecha
Therefore, Piroe may well be in danger of becoming the next Meslier to be pushed out of the squad because of his lack of suitability for the Premier League, due to his physical attributes, and the signings that have been made in his position.