Leeds United player ratings with clear man of the match sweeping up danger
Leeds United played out a 1-1 draw in the first game of 2026 at Elland Road.
Lucas Perri – hesitant coming off his line for the equaliser and poor in his distribution as usual but made a good reflex save from Leny Yoro 6
Sebastiann Bornauw – defended solidly 7
Jaka Bijol – a defensive rock, reading the game well to sweep up danger 9
Pascal Struijk – made the opening goal with a no-nonsense pass 7
James Justin – did his job defensively but does not offer the same attacking threat as Jayden Bogle, who he was deputising for 6
Ilia Gruev – did not let anyone down but not at the same level as Ethan Ampadu 6


Anton Stach – an outstanding cross onto the head of Dominic Calvert-Lewin in an energetic display 7
Gabriel Gudmundsson – good rather than excellent down the left-hand side 7
Brenden Aaronson – a goal to continue his good run of form 8
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – guided a header onto the far post and just over with an earlier chance 7


Noah Okafor – his pace caused problems, as did an overhead kick 7
Substitutes:
Lukas Nmecha (for Okafor, 75) – caused the Red Devils problems when he came on on the left 6
Willy Gnonto (for Bornauw, 80) – limited impact 4
Ao Tanaka (for Gruev, 80) – played a few good passes 5
Joel Piroe (for Aaronson, 87) – even coming on so late he had a couple of chances, without taking them 6
Not used: Longstaff, Harrison, Byram, Darlow, Chambers.
