Sports
Farke must finally bin Leeds flop
Leeds United didn’t fall victim to a Christmas hangover whatsoever at Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.
Instead, Daniel Farke‘s Whites battled well throughout against the Black Cats, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin popping up with yet another Premier League strike to hand the West Yorkshire outfit a well-earned 1-1 draw on the road.
On another day, Leeds could well have picked up all three points to dish out a first home defeat of the season to Regis Le Bris’ stern side, with Calvert-Lewin thankfully in the right place at the right time to steer home Brenden Aaronson’s incisive pass to, at least, snatch a share of the points.
Although both the ex-Everton attacker and Aaronson stood out when combining for the crucial equaliser, there were also some underperformers in the Leeds ranks that would have worried the German, ahead of more fixtures to come across the bumper winter fixture schedule.
Notable Leeds underperformers vs Sunderland
Away from the Sheffield-born menace, collecting his blistering seventh league strike across his last six encounters, other performers failed to leave their mark on proceedings.
Jayden Bogle, in particular, would have trudged off at the end a little disappointed with what he offered up, as he was caught out for Simon Adingra’s opener, after Granit Xhaka cut open the Whites’ defence with ease with a killer through ball.
The Ivorian would then curl home this tremendous effort past Lucas Perri, with Bogle also failing to register a single accurate cross or key pass when marauding forward, as per Sofascore.
The aforementioned Perri might also feel somewhat flat about his individual display, as another clean sheet passed him by, with a second Sunderland goal nearly beating him when Brian Brobbey ran through with pace to burn at the end of a lively first half.
Thankfully, the bulldozing Dutchman wouldn’t put Sunderland two goals ahead, as the Brazilian breathed a mighty sigh of relief.
There is another out-of-sorts Leeds performer who surely must be in line to be dropped for the Whites’ next league clash on New Year’s Day away at Liverpool.
The Leeds flop who must be dropped
Farke will almost certainly have to replace Joe Rodon for the trip to Anfield to start 2026, with the Welshman having to come off during the first half with a nasty injury sustained to his ankle.
Joining him out of the starting XI could also be Noah Okafor, with the former AC Milan attacker going yet another league game without a goal or an assist for Leeds at the Stadium of Light, as his last goal contribution in Premier League action fell all the way back in early October versus Tottenham Hotspur.
It just isn’t working for the number 19 at the moment, lining up alongside Calvert-Lewin up top, with his 77-minute cameo against Crystal Palace – which saw Leeds storm home to a comprehensive 4-1 win – also seeing him register zero shots at a shaky Eagles goal.
He was equally inaccurate in front of goal against Le Bris’ hosts, with his three efforts all being blazed off-target. Moreover, Okafor would only complete one of his four attempted dribbles on the day, as his grip on a starting spot has surely gotten weaker.
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Okafor’s performance in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Okafor |
|
Minutes played |
77 |
|
Goals scored |
0 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Touches |
38 |
|
Shots |
3 |
|
Accurate passes |
16/18 (89%) |
|
Key passes |
2 |
|
Accurate crosses |
2/4 |
|
Successful dribbles |
1/4 |
|
Total duels won |
5/12 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
The table above doesn’t exactly show off the low-on-confidence 25-year-old in a better light, with Okafor weak when coming up against a combative Sunderland side, resulting in him losing seven of his 12 duels.
This timid approach also saw Okafor only amass 38 touches of the ball, with Perri in between the sticks for the away side, even managing more, when finishing the match with a superior 54 touches next to his name.
With Wilfried Gnonto picking up an assist against Brentford when coming on for Okafor, it could be time for Farke to reintroduce the Italian into his starting XIs, rather than mainly utilising him as an impact substitute.
Moreover, there is Lucas Nmecha at the German’s disposal, who has four Premier League strikes next to his name, with the number 19 surely aware that he will be replaced soon, if he continues to offer very little.
All in all, Leeds do have plenty of positives to latch onto after this entertaining draw on Wearside, but when it comes to Okafor, he might soon be axed by his manager, as 2026 slides into view.
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