Seven games have gone by in the Premier League and Leeds United fans will have a positive outlook on the season so far. Many would have expected a newly promoted team to be worse off at this stage of the campaign.
Leeds currently sit in 15th place with eight points from seven matches. Despite three defeats, the Whites have had some impressive results against Newcastle and Bournemouth in the last few games.
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Daniel Farke’s side spent close to £100million in the summer, mainly investing it in the defence and midfield. The backline had many new additions, but so far only two of the additions have had any major playing time.
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Leeds United defender near the top of Premier League category
Pascal Struijk Credit: Imago
Lucas Perri was a solid option in the first few games, before he picked up an injury. The Brazilian has returned to training and should be back in the first team soon. Gabriel Gudmundsson has slotted in perfectly at left back, filling the hole left by Junior Firpo in the summer. James Justin, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Jaka Bijol have been the other new defensive additions, but they have barely featured this season.
This is mostly down to the performances of the current options in the team. Jayden Bogle has continued to excel at right back this season, and the partnership between Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk has been excellent. Rodon has gotten most of the plaudits this season, but Struijk has also been quietly having a great campaign.
According to FBref, Pascal Struijk ranks fourth in the Premier League for pass completion percentage. The Dutch centre back has a 93.2% completion rate which ranks him higher that Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk and Manchester City’s Ruben Dias.
Pascal Struijk and Joe Rodon keeping new signings out of first team
The center back situation at Elland Road seems to be consistent so far; the only time Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw have seen minutes was in the EFL cup exit to Sheffield Wednesday. Struijk and Rodon have been so good this season, that it has become difficult for the new signings to break into the first team.
And with how they continue to perform, Bijol and Bornauw could be on the fringes of the team for a long time.
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