Leeds United have made four additions to their first-team squad during the summer transfer window, since they failed to earn promotion to the Premier League last season.
The Whites lost 1-0 to Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley in May and are now preparing for a second season in the Championship.
Daniel Farke swooped to bring in Joe Rodon on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur after his spell on loan at Elland Road during the 2023/24 campaign, with Archie Gray going to Spurs in a separate deal.
Leeds then signed Alex Cairns to provide back-up to Illan Meslier and Karl Darlow, central midfielder Joe Rothwell joined on a season-long loan move from Bournemouth, and Jayden Bogle has been snapped up from Sheffield United.
Farke may want to make additions to his attacking options over the coming weeks, though, after his side struggled badly in front of goal in the second tier.
The West Yorkshire side racked up 82 goals from a whopping 94.57 xG in the Championship, which shows that the manager’s side missed far too many high-quality chances.
Leeds’ finishing struggles last season
The Whites underperformed against their xG by a significant amount as a number of their players endured frustrating seasons when it came to finishing off high xG opportunities.
Three of Leeds’ four first-team striker options were within the top five Leeds players who underperformed against their xG, which illustrates a clear issue within the squad.
| Leeds’ biggest xG underperformers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 23/24 Championship | xG | Goals | xG differential |
| Georgino Rutter | 16.05 | 7 | -9.05 |
| Patrick Bamford | 11.11 | 8 | -3.11 |
| Joe Rodon | 2.51 | 0 | -2.51 |
| Ethan Ampadu | 2.3 | 0 | -2.3 |
| Mateo Joseph | 2.43 | 1 | -1.43 |
| Stats via WhoScored
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As you can see in the table above, Georginio Rutter and Patrick Bamford combined for an xG differential of -11.16. This was a staggering underperformance and may have been costly in the race for automatic promotion back to the Premier League.
Leeds finished third in the table and could have broken into the top two ahead of Ipswich Town or Leicester City, if they had matched their xG total, or even overperformed.
These statistics, therefore, suggest that Farke needs to bring in higher-quality finishers to bolster his squad in order to make the most of the high-quality opportunities that his team can create on a consistent basis.
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