I have a match report fresh off the press for you – by our very own Jamie Jackson!
Tuck into that and I’ll leave you in peace for tonight. Thanks for your excellent company and all your similarly superb interactions. See you again soon!
Jamie Carragher momentarily embarrasses the affable Coady by pretending Jurgen Klopp has said he wants him to replace Van Dijk and what does he think? Everyone comes out laughing after some mild awkwardness.
Conor Coady speaks: “Massive result for us, we knew how tough it was going to be. They were fantastic last year and we saw their performance against Man City. It’s about 100mph when you play them but we had a gameplan and stuck to it.
“We’d never come up against a Bielsa team before so it’s all about managing a game, looking at how the other team plays. It’s hard to get after them. It’s 100mph so you’ve got to play with your brain. Second half we knew we’d get a little bit more control, because they work so hard and would tire a bit, and we defended really well too.”
30 - Since the start of last season, Raúl Jiménez (30) is one of only four Premier League players to have scored 30+ goals in all competitions alongside Raheem Sterling (35), Harry Kane (34) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (31). Reliable #LEEWOL pic.twitter.com/mLwl7psmHz
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 19, 2020
He is very good.
For fans of the early-season table, Leeds stay 10th and Wolves climb all the way to sixth. Maybe that flop at West Ham was an aberration; tonight suggested so.
Was that Leeds’ first real “schooling” in the Premier League? They tore around like dervishes in the first 20 minutes and I do wonder if Wolves showed them a little too much respect. The visitors calmed things down before half-time and then emerged with much more aggression and intent, being unfortunate not to see Saiss’s goal count and then getting slightly luckier with Jimenez’s deflected winner. Leeds, for all their endeavour, didn’t create anything you could call a clear chance in the entire game – Coady, Boly and Kilman were all superb at the back. Well played Wolves – and for Leeds, look, it happens. Some of these players were doing fairly averagely in the second tier two or three years back. There will be wobbles and this one doesn’t bring much shame.
Full-time: Leeds 0-1 Wolves
The points go back to Wolverhampton and, in the end, deservedly so.
90+6 min: And now they win a late, late, late corner! It’s aimed high and beyond everyone, and Wolves repel a subsequent ball in too.
90+5 min: Leeds win a late free kick around 45 yards out. Time to pack the box? Maybe, but they work it short and squander possession.
90+3 min: They were nearly well out of it just then though, Phillips and then Ayling blocking from the marauding Neves as the pitch opened up for him.
90+2 min: Six added minutes here though! We’re well into them but Leeds are still in it ...
90+1 min: There’s a bit of a to-do now, as Jimenez is down after a tangle with Koch near halfway. Was Jimenez, in fact, the sinner with a little kick out – even if little contact was made – towards Koch? VAR sensibly decides there’s been no offence. I think Jimenez made a lot of that mind you, and maybe to cover his own back.
Updated
89 min: Neto is now replaced by Marcal, the experienced Brazilian left-back, as Wolves look to make sure.
88 min: Still isn’t happening for them though. They’ve come up against a very well-drilled, consummate unit tonight. Patricio collects a slightly desperate looking Ayling cross.
86 min: Time is running out for Leeds now. It’s been half-chances all night and little more. Can they find the big one?
83 min: And Raphinha is almost involved in a goal, tearing to the line and cutting back from the left side. The ball eventually falls to Poveda, whose shot is blocked and loops up in front of goal with Patricio flailing. Nobody can convert.
82 min: The big-money winger Raphinha – signed from Rennes for about £17m – comes on for his Leeds debut in Harrison’s place, while Wolves introduce Neves for Moutinho.
81 min: Hernandez is making a difference to Leeds and sees a deflected shot loop over from inside the area. It’s another corner, but Phillips’ delivery is sub-par. Jimenez is back there to do some dirty work and clear.
80 min: Leeds win a corner after tenacious work from Bamford. Now can they build a head of steam? Nope – Hernandez crosses but Wolves hold firm again.
77 min: Better from Leeds but Harrison puts the ball in too high for Bamford when in a promising area.
76 min: Pablo Hernandez, Leeds’ veteran creative maestro, now comes on for Struijk, who was very unlucky in the buildup to the goal and did well otherwise.
74 min: Traore breaks and finds Neto, and maybe Wolves fancy some more. This time, Ayling blocks and the ball does not threaten the goal.
72 min: Leeds immediately bring on the youngster Poveda in Costa’s place. They haven’t been at it since half-time and Wolves are decent value for the lead now.
Goal! Leeds 0-1 Wolves (Jimenez 70)
This one counts! Jimenez and Struijk contest a direct ball down the right and the defender slips. It means Jimenez can carry the ball infield, carry it further, and carry it some more. He eventually checks onto his right foot, aims a relatively harmless-looking shot from 20 yards, and watches in delight at is hits Phillips on the head and completely wrong-foots Meslier!
Updated
68 min: “The whole notion of VAR was to end disputes from bad calls from the refs,” notes Mary Waltz. “How is that working? Keep the goal line technology and bin the rest of VAR.”
I agree.
67 min: Moutinho is booked for shoving Klich over. It’s got a bit untidy again. One goal will win this, if there is a goal.
65 min: Harrison shanks a difficult cross into the stand and here comes Traore. Slightly surprisingly he’s on for Podence, who has oozed menace early in this half.
63 min: Wolves remain on top for now and Meslier dashes out to gather ahead of Saiss.
62 min: “These hairline VAR offside calls are tedious and time-consuming, and chlorinating football of all its spontaneity and celebration. I’m off to my local library for some real excitement,” writes the bookworm Justin Kavanagh. Meanwhile, Phillips get a yellow for too many fouls.
60 min: Podence cleverly finds Jimenez in the box but the striker takes too long to look for the perfect shooting chance and the opportunity goes. Wolves are carrying a real threat now though and can feel hard done by not to be ahead.
58 min: Still, this has all livened things up. Neto sprints down the left now and Struijk does very well to turn his cross away, before a Harrison delivery for Leeds is untidily defended.
Updated
57 min: Now the increasingly lively Podence, very much onside although frankly who knows these days, sees a left-footer smartly tipped wide by Meslier. The Wolves corner comes to nothing.
VAR disallows Saiss goal!
Podence is found by a raking pass that sets him away down the right. He chests it down, buzzes to the line, dinks the cross over and it’s not really cleared. Saiss, steaming in beyond the back stick, blasts it wonderfully beyond Meslier from 15 yards! All good, but then VAR decides a tiny part of Podence’s lower body – I think – was offside. I’m fed up of this football-killing rubbish to be honest, calls as tight as this simply have to favour the forwards.
Updated
51 min: This game could do with a bit of Adama Traore, I think.
Updated
48 min: A snappy start, Wolves suggesting they might get a little closer to Leeds as Dendoncker takes a swipe at Phillips in midfield.
Peeeep!
Leeds get us back underway.
Not long til the second half here. Tough to see beyond a draw at the moment. Is two goalless affairs in one evening to be the Premier League’s attempt at correcting itself?
Half-time reading from Suzanne Wrack on why Sergio Aguero was well out of order at the weekend.
Half-time: Leeds 0-0 Wolves
“Tough watch” or “tactically intriguing”? Until that Podence chance, Leeds had been much the brighter without creating all that much. Wolves showed at the end there that they carry a menace. Let’s hope this opens up a bit, though.
Updated
45+2 min: And in the second of them, Wolves counter and Meslier saves really well with a strong hand as Podence unleashes a vicious drive from 12 yards. That was the closest anyone has come by some way!
45+ 1 min: Leeds win a corner in the first of those, but it’s overhit by Phillips.
45 min: Meslier does well to punch a deep Neto free-kick and is taken out in the process. That should soon be pretty much that for the half; we’re entering the two added minutes.
43 min: Apropos of, well, the action out there – interesting that, while crossing tends to be derided these days, this undoubtedly very sophisticated Bielsa team nonetheless *really* likes to put a cross in.
42 min: “With their intellectual manager and their preponderance of man-buns, could Leeds be the team to thrive most in the library-like atmosphere of the Premier League this season? Bookies’ favourites maybe?” asks Justin Kavanagh.
Updated
40 min: Leeds win another corner though. Again it’s inventively cut back to the edge of the box but Harrison doesn’t really catch the shot well and it’s deflected behind. From the *next* flag kick, Rodrigo gets a shot in at the far post but it’s down Patricio’s throat. That was probably the best chance so far, actually.
39 min: Dallas centres from the byline now but still nobody can quite fashion a real opportunity out there.
38 min: Phillips pings a lovely diagonal to Harrison, who volleys across goal. Coady has to make a last-ditch intervention to stop Bamford converting, right in front of the watching Gareth Southgate.
35 min: It’s whipped in low towards the near post by Neto and Jimenez has read it, running across his man. He can’t get his bearings right though, and scoops high.
34 min: Neto, Wolves’ biggest threat so far, glides away on the right and wins a corner ...
31 min: Leeds wake up and Kilman is alert to Costa’s attempted header across the box. Then Semedo gets a head to the ball ahead of Bamford at the back stick ... and then Kilman, in perhaps the edgiest bit of action yet, sticks out a leg to block an on-target drive from Ayling. I suspect Patricio, who had started to dive, had it covered though.
29 min: Jimenez tries to run onto the ball just outside the area but Leeds clear. Seeing a little more from Wolves as an attacking force now, though.
26 min: Meanwhile, not too much is happening out on the pitch. It’s been a fairly bleak 10 minutes, although now Harrison wins a free-kick from Neto on the left. A chance to threaten again? In short: nope, and Leeds are required to flock back and snuff out a counter from the prior miscreant Neto.
24 min: Peter Oh is back with a good observation about Wolves’ kit. “The visitors’ burgundy and green third kit looks suspiciously like the Portugal national team strip. Perhaps a nod to the Portuguese manager and several of his compatriots in the Wolves squad. Leeds missed a trick by not adding sky blue stripes to their white shirts, in further homage to their messianic Argentinian gaffer.”
Updated
21 min: A slightly sloppier period from Leeds now, and a steadying of the ship for Wolves – who, save for that surprising 4-0 defeat at West Ham, tend to be one of the steadiest around.
18 min: Now Wolves enjoy their first real spell of possession, although it ends with an awry long pass from Coady.
16 min: The speed of some of this stuff from Leeds is just stunning. Now Bamford is sprung down the right and centres for Rodrigo, who tees up Costa, but the eventual shot is dragged wide.
15 min: Ayling, who is really bombing on from defence, is booked for a mistimed challenge on the edge of the Wolves box.
13 min: A long pause now, though, with Podence taking treatment. He should be OK. Moutinho has a few words with his colleagues. On early evidence they need a wake-up.
11 min: Leeds are so bright and brisk, it’s really striking. They also *cannot bear* for the ball to run out of play, keeping it in at every opportunity or recycling it at speed in the worst case. It’s so urgent and vital.
9 min: “If they were getting £14.95 for every viewer of this one, I’m sure they could afford another 50p for the light meter!” writes Michael George.
Credit where it’s due, this one is on the small fortune I already pay Sky each month.
Meanwhile, you don’t need an extra halogen bulb to see that Helder Costa, trying to twist past Moutinho, throws himself to the ground in an effort to win a penalty.
7 min: Leeds work a clever corner that’s headed through to Bamford by Harrison from the edge of the box. He converts but is well offside.
Updated
5 min: Now Phillips slips Ayling away with a quick free-kick but his cutback from the byline is defended. Leeds have come to look the sharper.
4 min: The play speeds up and Costa, once of Wolves, wins Leeds the game’s first corner. England’s Kalvin Phillips will outswing from the right ... and it’s nodded away at the near post but not cleared completely, Leeds working the ball back into the box and Rodrigo knocking on neatly for Bamford, who slices wide.
3 min: An unremarkable start, Wolves attacking briefly in the first minute and then Leeds keeping possession. The Elland Road pitch doesn’t really seem the best-lit, although perhaps that’s just by modern standards. Or maybe my eyesight is going.
Peeeeep! Off we go!
Wolves, wearing ... crimson? ... and shooting right to left, get us going.
Out come the teams – soon we begin! You’d love a crowd for this one, on a Monday night at Elland Road ...
A big blow for Leeds – their captain Liam Cooper pulls out in the warm-up. Pascal Struijk is in for only his ninth senior game.
Here is Ben Fisher’s report from that tie at the Hawthorns:
“Between Bielsa being depicted in a mural as Christ the Redeemer and Espirito Santo being Portuguese for ‘holy spirit’, this is shaping up to be symbolic clash of heavyweights. God knows what will happen on the pitch,” writes Peter Oh.
It would be “holy” inappropriate to speculate.
Nuno speaks: “Joao and Ruben both keep good possession but we go to Joao because we want him to develop his talent in higher parts of the pitch, so let’s try it. [Leeds are] a very good team, fantastic manager, the only thing we miss is the atmosphere bit it’s a very tough game for us.”
Bielsa spoke too, via his interpreter, but it wasn’t much of a line – he is pleased they have stuck to their principles since coming up.
Tonight’s referee? It’s David Coote, who was in charge of VAR at Goodison on Saturday. I’ll say no more because elements of the pile-on since then have been ridiculous.
By the way, the score in this evening’s other top-flight game was ... wait for it ... West Brom 0-0 Burnley. Own up, any of you spend £14.95 on that?
Updated
Phil Russell emails on Wolves:
“For all the talk of Wolves missing Doherty and Jota its probably the injured Jonny they’ve missed most this season. Goes under the radar but provides width and balance down the left. Semedo looks like he could be an upgrade on Doherty and in Podence, Neto and Traore, with the new signing Silva as well, the front line is well stocked. Left wing-back seems to be picked out of a hat at the moment though, and the lack of quality there reduces the attacking options. Anyway should be a belting game, one where you really miss not having a crowd to watch it.”
Before the show starts you can squeeze in a very decent chunk of the new Football Weekly – reviewing the controversial, sublime, ridiculous weekend that was.
So, Joao Moutinho replaces Ruben Neves in Wolves’ starting lineup. Adama Traore remains on the bench. Rodrigo and Harrison return for Leeds, who contested that ragingly fun draw with Man City last time out.
Teams
Leeds: Meslier, Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Dallas, Phillips, Costa, Klich, Harrison, Rodrigo, Bamford. Subs: Casilla, Alioski, Struijk, Roberts, Hernandez, Poveda, Raphinha.
Wolves: Patricio, Semedo, Boly, Coady, Kilman, Saïss, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Neto, Podence, Jiménez. Subs: Ruddy, Hoever, Marcal, Neves, Silva, Traore, Otasowie.
Grab something from the fridge and I’ll be back in a bit to digest all that.
Hello there
Revitalised old power meet ... revitalised old power. Time was, and not so long ago, when Leeds and Wolves met regularly in the Championship. They faced off at that level 10 times earlier this decade and only missed each other by a whisker in League One, too. But it always felt like a matter of when and how, rather than if, these two got their acts together. They’ve done it – and in style!
We’ve seen Leeds this season. It’s Bielsaball as you always dreamed it: ambitious, flawed, rattling good fun. It will be enough to carry them to a good league finish, I’m sure of that, and perhaps even better given the brain-scrambling start to the season we’re all enjoying.
Can they perform with their usual gusto against tactically-savvy Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves, who have shown the way for well-resourced sides that come up from the second tier over the past two years. Wolves haven’t quite hit it off so far, and I do wonder if selling *both* Diogo Jota and Matt Doherty was a good idea by whoever deals with the transfers there even if you allow that a team always needs some sort of evolution. They don’t want the kind of drubbing they took at West Ham, that’s for sure.
Feels like a close one though, this, between two genuinely fine sides. Leeds will climb as high as third if they win; Wolves would go fourth if they won by, errrm, eight but would probably settle for the kind of result that would suggest they are back in business.
Should be fun. Could be *very* fun. Enjoy!
