Leeds United have not scored in three Prmeier League games - but there is reason for hope that this will change vs Brentford
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
15:05, 18 Mar 2026
Leeds United need to be far more accurate
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Leeds United need to be far more accurate(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Goals win games and Leeds United have not scored one in 330 minutes - or five-and-a-half hours - of Premier League football.
Granted one fixture was against Manchester City. But even in that game Dominic Calvert-Lewin ought to have struck first blood, putting wide a glorious chance inside the first 10 minutes.
He has ended the last three games with an xG rating of 1.77, much of that being the penalty miss against Crystal Palace. But it should not and cannot be left to him alone to get the goals to keep Leeds in the Premier League.
One stark fact is that every attacking player in the squad has a negative xG, meaning they have scored fewer than they ought to have done. For Calvert-Lewin for example, it is almost three fewer.
Gabriel Gudmundsson, Sean Longstaff and Joel Piroe all netted in the FA Cup against Norwich but none of these are players who Leeds will rely on for the goals to keep them in the top-flight.
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Leeds' goal threats need to find their shooting boots again and it is important they do so against Brentford. By the time kick-off comes on Saturday, it will have been a month since their last league goal, Anton Stach’s wonder free-kick against Aston Villa.
Their last open play goal came from Noah Okafor on February 10 and he has not played since then due to injury. A goalless draw at Selhurst Park was a great effort in the circumstances, even if they did squander a penalty.
But Brentford is the last opportunity to prevent March itself being a goalless month when it comes to league games and the match is a must-win given the relegation picture. Three points will give Leeds a huge confidence boost heading into the final seven-game run-in after the international break.
To do that, they need to score - and that means firing more efforts on target. In the last three goalless games, Leeds have fired in 42 shots with only nine of them on target, which is just 21%.
In United’s last three wins - against Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Crystal Palace at home - the team directed 18 of their 48 shots on goal, equating to 37.5%.
Notably, in each of the respective last three goalless matches, less than third of the shots they took were on target. In the last three wins, it was above a third.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin reacts after he misses the penalty
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Dominic Calvert-Lewin reacts after he misses the penalty(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
It is also clear that Leeds need to create better scoring opportunities. In the last three games, their xG ratio has gradually decreased; 1.47 vs Man City, 1.17 vs Sunderland, and 1.13 vs Palace.
Of course, Man City are title-chasing giants and half of the game against Palace was played with 10 men. But it nevertheless shows that Leeds need to make sure this short trend does not turn into a habit at the wrong time.
For reference, their wins over Palace and Fulham at home incurred an xG score of 3.17 and 2.52 respectively. Against Fulham it sat at a lower 1.61, yet this was still higher than the last three games.
The bottom line is that to score goals, you need to take your chances but in turn, you need to create the opportunities to score - a theory that comes as a surprise to no-one. And completing such tasks in the Premier League as a newly-promoted side is never easy.
Yet Leeds have shown they are capable of doing what is required multiple times this season. They have the capacity and have had a near-fully fit squad of late. That only adds to the recent frustration but also comes as a source of hope.
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This bunch of players have scored two or more goals in 10 league matches this season, six of these coming at Elland Road. Their goal tally of 37 is better than Everton’s, Sunderland’s and the five of the other six bottom-seven clubs.
This squad is capable. They just need to remind themselves and everyone else of that again. And that starts with a goal.