Leeds United head into the second international break of the 2024/25 campaign with only one defeat in nine matches in the Championship so far.
Despite their impressive record, there may be some disappointment in the fact that they have only won two of their last five outings in the division.
After their 1-0 loss to Burnley at Elland Road, Daniel Farke’s side secured successive victories over Cardiff and Coventry, scoring five goals without reply in those games.
However, they have failed to win their last two matches in the Championship. They battled from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 with Norwich City at Carrow Road before they conceded in the 97th minute to draw 2-2 with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in their most recent game.
Leeds head into the break off the back of that late blow on Wearside, which cost them two points, and will have to stew over that for the next two weeks.
Illan Meslier, who allowed the ball to bounce and watched it spin back into his net, will have to move on from that error quickly and train hard to ensure that there are no more major mistakes in the games to come.
Illan Meslier's Championship form for Leeds
The Frenchman has not found the Championship an easy place to perform since the Whites were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
Farke arrived at Elland Road in the summer of 2023 and has ensured that his Leeds team have been dominant and defensively sound at this level over the past 14 months, for the most part.
They have the second-best xGA per 90 (0.95) in the second tier so far this season, and had the best xGA per 90 (1.01) in the league during the 2023/24 term.
This means that Meslier has been the most well protected goalkeeper in the Championship since the start of last term, as his defence has not allowed many high-quality chances for opposition players to fire at his goal.
Despite that, the 24-year-old dud has still managed to underperform as a shot-stopper and has been a liability at times for Farke with his weak goalkeeping.
Last term, the left-footed giant let in 4.49 more goals than expected, based on the xG of the shots against him, and made two errors that directly led to shots or goals for the opposition in his 44 matches during the regular season.
Meslier’s shot-stopping does not appear to have improved during the off-season as the French flop has already let in 1.47 more than expected in nine matches in the current campaign.
He has also already matched his tally for errors that directly led to a goal (one) from last season, with his huge mistake for the late equaliser at the Stadium of Light.
Leeds are vying to earn promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking and will not want their goalkeeper’s errors and underperformance as a shot-stopper to prevent them from doing so, which is why they could dip into the market in January to revisit one of their former targets.
Leeds once wanted Championship colossus
In the summer of 2023, after the club moved to appoint Farke as the new head coach, the West Yorkshire outfit were reportedly interested in signing Norwich City star Angus Gunn to compete for a place between the sticks.
The Athletic’s Phil Hay revealed, on The Square Ball podcast, during that summer transfer window that the Whites had drawn up a shortlist of goalkeeping options to challenge Meslier for his starting place, and named the Scotland international as one of their targets.
Karl Darlow was also mentioned as a player the club appreciated and the Newcastle United outcast ended up being the one to come in on a permanent deal, but he has failed to dislodge the Frenchman so far.
That was not the first time that Leeds had been interested in Gunn. It was reported that Marcelo Bielsa wanted to bring him to Elland Road from Southampton in the summer of 2021, but Farke – managing Norwich at the time – beat the Argentine boss to his services for a fee of £5m.
The German head coach must now revisit his interest from 2023 and sign the Scottish colossus for the third time in his career, having snapped him up on loan from Manchester City in 2017 and on a permanent deal from the Saints in 2021, in order to finally ditch Meslier.
Why Leeds should sign Angus Gunn
Firstly, the 28-year-old star is out of contract at the end of the season and this means that he could be available in January if the Canaries are unable to pin him down to an extension, as he would be free to leave for nothing at the end of the season if they do not cash in then.
Gunn, who was hailed as “exceptional” for Scotland by Joe Hart earlier this year, is a proven Championship performer who has been in terrific form for the Canaries at that level over the past two-and-a-bit seasons between the sticks.
This season, the Scottish ace has saved 71% of the shots against his goal and made 0.9 successful run-outs per match, to earn a Sofascore rating of 6.94.
Appearances
44
40
Save success rate
68%
69%
Successful run-outs per game
0.4
0.7
Goals prevented
-4.49
+4.55
Error led to shot/goal
2
0
As you can see in the table above, Gunn significantly outperformed Meslier in the 2023/24 Championship campaign with his superb performances for Norwich.
Their respective statistics suggest that Leeds would have conceded around nine fewer goals than they did with the Scottish ace in goal, as he prevented 4.55 goals for the Canaries with his shot-stopping, whilst Meslier let in 4.49 more than expected.
Gunn is also more proactive in coming off his line to sweep up behind his defence, as shown by his 0.3 more successful run-outs last term, and that could help to alleviate some pressure off the likes of Pascal Struijk and Joe Rodon when balls go down the channels and in behind.
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Therefore, Farke must swoop to sign the Norwich star, who also saved 72% of shots against him in the 2022/23 season, in January to finally ditch Meslier from the starting XI.
