Leeds 0 – 3 A Villa

Jesse Marsch suffered a second straight Premier League defeat as Leeds boss as Aston Villa cruised to a 3-0 victory at Elland Road to deepen the Yorkshire club’s relegation troubles.

It was another worrying performance from Leeds, who, after a lacklustre start, fell behind in the 22nd minute when Philippe Coutinho’s low shot took a faint touch off defender Pascal Struijk to beat goalkeeper Illan Meslier.

Leeds failed to create any scoring chances in the first half and Marsch reacted by sending on Joe Gelhardt for Rodrigo at half-time, and he also sent Patrick Bamford on for his first appearance of 2022 after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

However, Leeds’ fortunes did not change and Matty Cash fired Villa into a 2-0 lead in the 66th minute. The defender found himself in plenty of space on the right edge of the penalty area after being picked out by Danny Ings’ superb diagonal ball, and the full-back cut inside to beat Meslier with a fierce low drive inside the near post.

It’s a big job for Marsch. He’s been brought in to keep them in the Premier League. It always takes time for a manager to get in and get his feet under the table, but he hasn’t got time. The games come thick and fast. They need to win football matches now.

Villa made the game safe eight minutes later as Chambers’ brilliant strike picked out the top corner to compound Leeds’ problems and send the home fans to the exits.

The final whistle brought boos from the Leeds supporters who stayed inside the ground as Marsch’s side’s drop towards the relegation zone continued. Leeds, who have suffered six straight defeats, conceding 21 goals, stay 16th but are just two points above the relegation places having played more games than Everton and Burnley below them.

Villa made it three wins from their last three games, scoring nine goals and conceding none as they move into the top half of the table.

‘Leeds are staring over their shoulders’

Clinton Morrison on Sky Sports News:

“Leeds are most definitely staring over their shoulders.

“They’ve got big games coming up, but it wasn’t good enough against Aston Villa. Defensively they have got massive problems because the number of goals they are conceding is not good enough.

“The new manager has come in and they are still conceding too many goals.

“It’s a big job for Jesse Marsch now and he needs to start winning football matches because Leeds are looking firmly behind them with Burnley and Everton both having games in hand.”

Bamford’s back but Leeds’ goal struggles continue

For all Leeds’ problems at the back, they struggled to create anything of note against Villa, and even in difficult runs before, a lack of opportunities is not something that we have come to associate with Leeds in their last two seasons in the top flight.

Even with Patrick Bamford back making his first appearance of 2022 after a lengthy spell on the sideline, Leeds had had just four shots against Aston Villa, their fewest in a home league match since September 2016, which was also four against Huddersfield.

“Leeds didn’t create much, especially in the first half,” Morrison added. “I thought they were poor in the opening 45 minutes. Then they brought on Joe Gelhardt and Bamford and they looked more threatening at the start of the second half, but they only had half chances. They didn’t create any clear-cut chances.

“They need to get Raphinha back at the top of his game because he is an outstanding player. He has been Leeds’ best player this season by a country mile.

“They also need to get Kalvin Phillips back. They look very weak in midfield without him. What he does is he protects that back four as one of the best holding midfielders. They need him back as soon as possible.”

Opta stats: Marsch’s difficult start at Leeds continues…

• Jesse Marsch is the first Leeds manager to lose both of his first two league games in charge since Garry Monk in August 2016, while he’s the first to do so in the Premier League since George Graham in September 1996.
• Leeds have lost six consecutive Premier League games for the first time since February 2004, while this is the first time they’ve lost four top-flight games in a row without scoring since March 1982.
• Aston Villa have won three consecutive Premier League games without conceding for the first time since a run of four in December 2009 under Martin O’Neill.
• Villa scored more than twice for the first time in 27 Premier League away games, since winning 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion in December 2020.

What’s next?

Leeds host Norwich on Sunday in a crucial game in the battle for Premier League survival; kick-off 2pm. Aston Villa travel to West Ham on the same day; kick-off also 2pm.