I watched Leeds United 3-3 Portsmouth and five things have changed including four big boosts
Leeds United head to Fratton Park hoping for a much calmer game compared to August’s six-goal thriller.
When Portsmouth welcome Leeds United to Fratton Park this weekend they will face a side completely different to their opening-day hosts.
John Mousinho's side arrived at Elland Road in August for their first Championship game in 12 years and Leeds duly showed them what the Championship is all about. Two penalties, six goals, two of which came in added-time, missed chances galore - Brenden Aaronson could have made it 4-3 even deeper into injury time - and a healthy dose of general chaos.
The result left Elland Road regulars wondering what the 2024/25 campaign might look like and a 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat at home to Middlesbrough set alarm bells ringing. But then the chaos just disappeared, Leeds got a grip of themselves and 34 Championship games later, they head to Fratton Park a different beast.
Leeds will be top of the Championship come kick-off and have cemented themselves as title favourites, while the shine of a second-tier return has very much worn off on the south coast as Portsmouth fight to survive. Below, the YEP has taken a look at five big changes from that opening-day reverse.
Defensive surety
August’s opener proved a difficult start to life at Leeds for Jayden Bogle and an equally difficult return to West Yorkshire for Joe Rodon. The right-sided pair struggled at home to Portsmouth, playing their part in all three goals conceded with full-back Bogle giving away what looked to be a decisive penalty before Aaronson bailed him out.
Those issues were still on show a few weeks down the line but at some point, both clicked into gear and Leeds now boast the strongest right-sided defensive pair in the Championship. Bogle has six goal contributions and few can beat him with the stick of lax defending anymore, while Rodon looks to be getting better with every game. That opening-day weak point is now close to impenetrable.
Midfield quality
There would be serious questions asked if Farke partnered Ethan Ampadu with Ilia Gruev at home for the remainder of the campaign but for matchday one, it was a case of stick with what you know. Neither were particularly poor back in August but as can be expected, there was virtually no attacking threat from midfield until on-loan Bournemouth man Joe Rothwell got his debut with 20 minutes left.
Whether Rothwell starts on Sunday remains to be seen - Farke has preferred Gruev away from home in recent weeks - but the presence of Ao Tanaka is almost certain. The Japan international was still a Fortuna Dusseldorf player when Portsmouth came to Elland Road but has been a revelation since, ticking things over in midfield and forming a really troublesome partnership with Rothwell. There will be no lack of midfield threat at Fratton Park.
Less Rutter - more balance
The absence of a £40million player who racked up 15 league assists last season is not a boost, but the fallout of his exit has at least made Farke’s attacking unit more balanced. At Elland Road in August, it felt like Georginio or bust creatively with the Frenchman central to virtually every move going forward. But if he wasn’t firing, the general outcome was Leeds not firing either.
Farke predicted the goals and assists of Georginio and Crysencio Summerville would be more spread out this season and so it has come to pass. Six players are into double figures for goal contributions and Leeds can now hurt teams down the left, right or straight through the middle. Portsmouth will be attacked from every angle on Sunday and those attacks can vary from Joel Piroe’s goal-poaching instincts to Pascal Struijk’s set-piece power.
Key Pompey injuries
Leeds’ weekend hosts are down to the bare bones following confirmation of two more big injury blows earlier this week. Centre-back pair Hayden Matthews and Rob Atkinson will both be unavailable, as will Conor Shaughnessy, Ibane Bowat, Jordan Williams, Paddy Lane, Jacob Farrell and most importantly, top-scorer Callum Lang.
Two of Lang’s 10 league goals came at Elland Road in August and he caused plenty of problems for Rodon, Bogle and the rest. His absence is a massive blow for Mousinho, who was forced to play midfielder Marlon Pack at centre-back last weekend - something he will likely have to do again come Sunday.
Leeds confidence soaring
Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to West Brom slowed momentum ever so slightly, but Leeds are unbeaten in 17 league games. They’ve just beaten direct promotion rivals Sunderland and Sheffield United in the space of a week, coming from behind in both. They’ll be top of the Championship at kick-off with the chance to open up at least a five-point gap on third.
Leeds in August were unsure of themselves, having lost Summerville and Archie Gray with Georginio to follow. None of Tanaka, Largie Ramazani, Manor Solomon, Isaac Schmidt or Josuha Guilavogui had signed at the time, with Rothwell a relative unknown and Bogle just getting started. Things could not be more different this time.