Patrick Bamford only has four goals for Leeds United this season, but history indicates he’s got another gear.
It was a different match but the same story for Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford on Saturday.
The 25-year-old played relatively well in the Whites’ 2-1 defeat by Millwall in London, despite not scoring.
Impressing without finding the net is becoming a specialty for the Leeds striker, who hasn’t scored since August, but it’s much better for United’s promotion chances if he plays useless and still bags a goal or two.
Being a number nine, that’s what Bamford will always be judged on at the end of the day, his goals, but there is reason for optimism on this front.
You wouldn’t think it to look at his record over the past month, but Bamford – a £10 million signing by the Yorkshire club in 2018 [BBC Sport] – was Player of the Year in the Championship once upon a time.
Then at Middlesbrough, he won the award in May of 2015 after scoring 17 league goals in helping Boro to the playoff final.
And the really interesting thing here is that Bamford – who has four goals for Leeds this season but none since August – had only scored once by November of the 2014-15 campaign.
History suggests that the former Chelsea product is capable of stringing together a monstrous run of form. Not only did he score 16 times from November onwards of that season, but he also created 26 goalscoring chances for his team-mates, hence the Player of the Year gong.
He’s very much a divisive figure among the supporters, but this is a player who can fire Leeds into the Premier League.
Once he starts scoring again, he can keep it going for most of the season.
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