The match verdict on Leeds United's display vs Brentford in tonight's Premier League game
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
22:04, 21 Mar 2026
Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Leeds United heads the ball whilst under pressure from Caoimhin Kelleher of Brentford
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Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Leeds United heads the ball whilst under pressure from Caoimhin Kelleher of Brentford(Image: Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Leeds United failed to score for a fourth Premier League game in a row with Saturday's goalless draw with Brentford leaving questions over the run-in.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke is aiming for a point-per game, but has been forced to admit that, given the intensity of the relegation battle, Leeds might need up to 40 points. They currently sit on 33 with seven games to go.
The newly-promoted side have not won a league game since February 6 and have now gone 420 minutes without finding the net. What is more concerning is the team's lack of attacking vigour.
Leeds have four shots on target against Brentford but none truly tested the Bees goal, with no real clear-cut chances to write home about, despite their threatening set-pieces.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin may have earned an England call-up but he has scored just once in 10 appearances. Yet Leeds cannot pin all their goal hopes on him.
A scrappy, and frankly abject, first half that mustered a total xG of just 0.36 was only intercepted by Lukas Nmecha's 35th-minute long-range effort, which forced Caoimhin Kelleher to dive low to his right to make the game's first save.
Leeds, who have leaned on set-pieces so often this season, could not get first contact on the ball and had found it hard to bypass Brentford's defence, which had reverted to a back five for the first time since December 3.
The hosts needed to act having been in danger of going throughout the whole of March without scoring in the Premier League, some four fixtures. It was Brentford, though, who came closest to breaking the deadlock when Mathias Jensen struck the side-netting two minutes after the restart.
Leeds captain, the starting ignition behind Leeds' attacks, responded with a shot down the throat of Kelleher eight minutes later to get the Elland Road crowd going.
They were soon up in arms for two incidents. One was a handball penalty appeal against Nathan Collins being waved away, prompting anti-VAR shouts. Then shouts of cheat rang around the stadium as Kelleher hit the deck to incite tactical touchline team talk.
It's not the first time it's happened against Leeds with this gamesmanship, that Farke has so heavily critiqued, seen in defeats to Sunderland and Manchester City. It's scurge on the game.
But Leeds cannot use that as an excuse in their fight for Premier League survival. Despite having the lion's share of possession and territory for large parts, they rarely threatened the Brentford goal with regular gusto.
Ao Tanaka and Noah Okafor's entry into the game helped spur Leeds forward, granting the fans' wish for the Whites to be more creatively attacking. They will have to be over the final eight games if they are to make sure they stay in this division.
LEEDS (3-4-2-1): Darlow; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu, Stach, Gudmundsson; Nmecha (Okafor 68), Aaronson (Tanaka 68); Calvert-Lewin.
BRENTFORD (5-3-2): Kelleher; Kayode, Van ven Berg, Pinnock, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Jensen, Henderson, Yarmoliuk; Thiago, Schade (Outtarra 77).
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REFEREE: J Gillet.
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