Kyle Newbould: I watched Leeds United's 1-0 win vs Sunderland - here are my 3 key conclusions

Leeds United got their first pre-season win at the second time of asking overnight after beating Sunderland 1-0 in New Jersey.

Lukas Nmecha’s long-distance strike put Leeds ahead early on and they defended well to keep a clean sheet. Opponents Sunderland had some chances but were largely wasteful in the final third.

A total of 21 Leeds players featured, with the entire outfield unit changed and only goalkeeper Alex Cairns playing the full 90 minutes. Below are three of the YEP’s key takeaways from the night.

Vice-captain decision hint

With Pascal Struijk leaving for Brighton earlier this summer, a space has opened up to be club captain Ethan Ampadu’s deputy with no confirmation as yet who will be vice-captain. But Daniel Farke appeared to hint towards a decision last night with Joe Rodon leading his side out at the Sports Illustrated Stadium.

Ampadu started on the bench but elsewhere, Leeds went fairly strong with Callum Mills the only academy prospect in the starting-XI. Plenty of senior options, then, but as many would have predicted it was Rodon as skipper, the centre-back looking ahead to his fourth campaign in West Yorkshire.

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Rodon feels like the most obvious option for a promotion to vice-captain, given his three-year tenure at the heart of a squad that has changed a fair bit, and is set to change some more this summer. The Welshman is also not one to shy away from voicing his opinions - and if he doesn’t actually say it, his facial expressions will.

An encouraging debut

Leeds fans got their first look at new signing Tarik Muharemovic overnight, with the £34million centre-back thrown straight into Farke’s starting line-up. And it was a really encouraging performance from the 23-year-old, who stood out as the best player on the pitch.

With the caveat of a pre-season friendly in mind, Muharemovic’s Leeds debut was hugely promising with the Bosnian looking a level above in certain moments. He showed pace on the turn to cut out a dangerous Enzo Le Fee pass in behind and didn’t hesitate to get stuck in with a strong challenge on the imposing Brian Brobbey.

But most impressive, perhaps, was Muharemovic’s quality on the ball. The defender was composed in possession and showed a wide range of passing, from punchy balls through the lines to long, scraping diagonals. A standout moment was his arrowed knock into a forward-running Jayden Bogle which was laser-like in its accuracy.

Attacking flow lacking

Like the promising signs from Muharemovic, caution must be taken not to over-blow issues during pre-season but last night at least, Leeds’ attack looked pretty blunt. Nmecha’s goal came from Ao Tanaka dispossessing Le Fee in the Sunderland half and the ball ricocheting to the striker, with no actual build-up.

Farke was without Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor, while Wilson is still settling into a new environment, but Leeds looked pretty flat going forward. Nmecha’s goal preceded a clumsy performance, Daniel James frustratingly squandered good chances to score or assist while neither Joel Piroe nor Willy Gnonto had much of an impact.

Leeds are looking pretty strong defensively - particularly if they get a £40m deal for James Trafford over the line - but beyond the likely starting trio of Wilson, Okafor and Calvert-Lewin they are short up top. Fortunately, there is still a full month to go before the transfer window closes.