Patrick Bamford struggled for Leeds United on Saturday.
Patrick Bamford has been Leeds United’s first-choice striker all season long, but at what cost?
The 25-year-old, a £10 million signing in 2018 [BBC Sport], has netted 12 Championship goals in 28 starts for the Elland Road club since August.
It’s an okay return and considering Leeds are in the automatic promotion places, everything seemed to be going okay in West Yorkshire.
But Bamford had a poor game in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat by Wigan Athletic at home, spurning a number of goalscoring opportunities.
In terms of goal-mouth action, Leeds could and should have won the game but in what’s becoming a recurring theme of their season, Marcelo Bielsa’s side paid the penalty for missed chances.
And the extent of Bamford’s wastefulness in front of goal has been laid bare.
So far, the former Middlesbrough marksman has missed 20 ‘big chances’ for the Whites this season – more than any other player in the division – and has had the most shots off target in the Championship [53].
The numbers don’t reflect well on Bamford and here’s how Leeds fans responded to the stats:
The good news is that Leeds signed Jean-Kevin Augustin to rival Bamford last week, and at least they still have a three-point cushion in the top two.
The bad news is that Bielsa didn’t include Augustin yesterday and given his trust in Bamford, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if the French marksman has to earn a starting spot before making the first XI.
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