Key events
GOAL! Leeds United 2-0 Newcastle United (Calvert-Lewin 35)
Now they’re talking! This is a throwback of goal – one Newcastle have tried to pass out, Botman giving it to Bogle, who sends the ball out wide to Justin. His cross is perfect, swinging out, and Caalvert-Lewin jumps, applies brow to ball, heading powerfully down, and that is two goals in less than three minutes!
GOAL! Leeds United 1-0 Newcastle United (Tanaka 32)
Tanaka spreads left to Okafor, who returns it via square pass. Now on the edge, Tanaka takes longer than he has before shooting, but that time is what creates the goal, Steur and Miley both able to close him down, only for the ball to ricochet off one and against the other, looping past Hornicek for a goal that is fortunate but also rewards for Leeds’ aggression.
30 min The tempo is entertaining, but it’s about time we enjoyed some quality.
29 min Wissa counters, breaking into the Newcastle half and carrying well, but then he tries to feed Barnes in behind and barely finds the same longitude.
27 min A ball into the Newcastle box, still crowded following the corner, a flick-on, and Elvedi is there, unmarked on the right side of the box. In his mind, he lashes a glorious volley into the roof before hurling himself into the crowd to milk the adulation; in reality, he barely connects, dribbling a miserable effort wide of the near post, and everyone laughs.
25 min A long ball from Gudmundsson incites bogle to attack the middle of the box from the right, and he wins a corner. Then, when the corner comes in, Hornicek opts to punch when he might catch, picking out Bogle on the edge, who laces a shot that he’s forced to tip over. The second corner comes to nowt.
23 min I should note, Newcastle made a concussion substitution, so their allotted quota of five remains unaffected.
22 min Leeds have slowed down a bit and Newcastle are starting to jump to them.
21 min The name Sean Steur fits this song perfectly.
19 min Ach, it looks like Gonzalez will have to go off with concussion. That’s a right nause for him – godspeed, old mate – and he’s replaced by Sean Steur, the 18-year-old bought from Ajax.
18 min So far, we’ve seen almost nothing of Miley; he needs to find the ball, perhaps the skill that separates the best midfielders from the rest, and at any level.
17 min A ball launched down the right bounces kindly for Wissa, who lifts it into the middle; Justin does well to head clear, under pressure from Fernandez-Pardo.
16 min “Thanks to Google Gemini (other AI is available) i now understand your use of ‘coupon’ – ouch!” says Richard Mullock. “So when you have no drinking water tomorrow because the local data centre drank it, you can thank me then…”
My thanks are due to Irvine Welsh; there aren’t many cultures with vernacular that beats the Scots.
14 min Tanaka stands one up to the far post and and Justin does really to nod back from the by-line, Bogle, at what is now the near post spinning on it to force a low shot goalwards … but Hornicek does really well to dive low, a strong arm allowing him to tip the ball away.
12 min Okafor clearly thinks he can fid joy down the left and he zooms thataway before cutting back, Stach then setting for Ampadu. he flings his entire corporeality into a shot that’s on target, but it hits Calvert-Lewin, in an offside position. Either way, I think the diving Hornicek has it covered.
11 min We see the penalty claim again and, in co-comms, Don Goodman notes Fernandez-Pardo’s arms is raised, not above his head or owt, but at chest height. That, he reckons, makes the call marginal, but I disagree: he’s running, so of course he’s using his arms, and the ball kicks off the turf.
10 min It’s been frantic so far, the match without much shape to it. But there’s a terrific energy about Leeds, their confidence palpable; Newcastle are looking to absorb them, the plan presumably to grow into the game as their opponents flag.
9 min Newcastle looks to take some heat out of proceedings, knocking the ball about, but Leeds shut them down well, forcing them back to Hornicek, who humps downfield.
6 min We go again, Gonzalez looking OK for a bloke who’s just had his bell rung.
5 min Wissa puts a tarrying Trafford under pressure and blocks his clearance, but the ball rears up and to safety, then Leeds immediately counter down the left. Gudmundsson drives forward and into the box then, when he squares it, it shoots straight into Gonzalez’s coupon. The ref blows and the crowd think it’s for a pen, but it’s so the dazed man can recover with some treatment.
4 min “Don’t give us any bright ideas,” returns Chris Paraskevas. “We forgot to put the rubbish bin out for collection last night, so that thing theoretically contains the beginnings of a five-course meal (if rummaged right).”
OK, go on then: what’s the lowest you’ve stooped to enjoy a meal.
2 min The corner is cleared and, as Fernandez-Parod looks to bring the ball away, it kicks up off the turn and, on the edge of the box, bumps his hand. There are shouts for a penalty, but it looks accidental to me and the various refs agree.
1 min A ball over the top and into the inside-right channel finds Stach, who may and probably should shoot, but instead he opts to cross and the ball is knocked behind for a corner.
1 min Away we go…
“We are so proud we shout it out loud” is surely one of the worst lyrics ever written, only fractionally better than “they’re the best, better than the rest,” immortalised in Southbound’s B-side of We All Follow Man United.
Our teams are out and Elland Road is noisy.
With Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United still trying to work things out, while navigating obvious flaws they can’t address until January at the earliest, there might be an opportunity for clubs with more settled and/or balanced sides to assert themselves. Newcastle and Leeds might not’ve aimed for Europe at the outset, but seeing how things are going, that might be an achievable target.
“Huge morning in the Paraskevas household,” writes Chris Paraskevas, “with what is becoming an annual local derby with my beloved Newcastle taking on my little brother’s (sometimes/very rarely beloved?) Leeds United.
Given it isn’t even 5am yet and we both have a full day of work ahead of us (that’s right mum and dad: you can be proud/not totally ashamed of us now) it’s no exaggeration to say the outlook of my entire week/ year is dependent on Jaissle securing bragging rights for me.
Nice to see Pardo start up front and Dedic declared fit – you get the early sense they’ll be key to having a non-disastrous season.
There’s a spare jam donut on the table so I better get to it before my brother has any bright ideas and scores an early/head start in the race to diabetes.”
Before our now-wives called us in, I lived with one of my best childhood mates. We had these stale donuts that we chucked out, but then I went out on the Saturday night and was hungry when I got home. Naturally, I went fishing in the bin, only to discover my mate, who’d been out elsewhere, had had the same thought and got there first.
Jaissle tells Sky that Elanga has an injury that could be long-term but they hope not. He needs an MRI next week, then they’ll see.
On the newly re-signed Hall, he says that he’s exactly the kind of player he wants to play the kind of football he’s after, and on Miley Jr, says it’s time.
It wasn’t easy to start at Newcastle, which is one reason they’re so happy with the start, but they want to improve and work on the margins.
Email! “The way to get at Leeds is obvious,” says AnhTuan Nguyen Huynh. “Attack their full-backs relentlessly, because that’s where their defensive weakness lies. Leeds should cross, cross, and cross”
I’m sure Newcastle will look to get down the sides of Leeds, but they’ll want to get control of the middle of the park first. Gonzalez and Miley are good enough to do it, but they’ll be up against a box of four quite a lot of the time.
As for Newcastle, they’ll look to get at Leeds down the sides of the outside centre-backs and in behind the wing-backs; standard against a back three. I reckon they may invert Hall to help with the midfield numbers-game, and will definitely push Wissa up alongside Fernandez-Pardo, asking a different question of Farke’s defence, used to sharing one man between three, with Miley also looking to crash the box.
So where is the game? Leeds are set up to get at opponents down the sides, their wing-backs not having to worry too much about defending, three centre-backs and two midfielders allowing them to stay high and wide. Then, infield, Noah Okafor has the pace to challenge the last line and in behind, with no designated marker able to track him because he starts from deeper. Meantime, Anton Stach will come deeper, so Newcastle are outnumbered in midfield, and create, looking to slip Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in, with the wing-backs looking to cross, principally to the front post, or cut-back from the by-line. Oh, and I also wonder if they might target Gonzalez,hoping to funnel possession towards him, then pressing when he’s looking to build the play; Hall and Miley are too technically secure.
Jaissle did, of course, have a choice; he might’ve picked Touré. But it makes sense that in so competitive a contest and such an intimidating environment, he’s decided that one new face is enough.
Elanga, though, is a big miss. When he was playing age-group football, I really liked him – he combined the agility of a winger with the instinct of a striker. But when he broke into the Manchester United first team, his touch didn’t look good enough for the level, and even at Forest, he was more of a runner than a footballer. His worth-ethic, though, is unreal, and it might just be that he’s improved his technique to the point he’s growing into an all-round threat.
Fernandez-Pardo was, I’m sure, signed to be a starter. He’s had time to settle into a new home and have a look at things; now it’s time to get to work. The sense is he’ll be on the top line, with Wissa behind him.
Alreet, I’ll write those down, then we’ll consider what we might see.
Newcastle, meanwhile, change two of the front four who started their last league game, Jacob Murphy and Mathias Fernandez-Pardo – making his first start for the club – replacing Anthony Elanga, who’s injured, and Joe Willock. Also worthy of note: Mason Miley, brother of Lewis, is on the bench.
Leeds are unchanged from last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Brighton. In between times they lost 6-3 at Chelsea in the Rumbelows, having led 2-0, but only three of tonight’s XI started that one.
Let’s take a loser look at the teams…
Daniel Farke tells Sky it’s been a good start in terms of performance and points, but this is a difficult test against a strong team who are especially dangerous in transition. They’re hoping to ride momentum and it’s good their fans are excited having suffered plenty.
Eddie Howe has left a legacy, he muses, and Jaissle has tried to work with it, deploying pacy players up front, so his team need to be careful to look after the ball.
Teams!
Leeds United (3-4-2-1): Trafford; Justin, Elvedi, Muharemović; Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson; Okafor, Stach; Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Zetterer, Bard, Bijol, Longstaff, Aaronson, Wilson James, Bahoya, Nmecha.
Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Hornicek; Dedic, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Nico, Miley L; Murphy, Wissa, Barnes; Fernandez-Pardo. Subs: Pope, Livramento, Schär, Bamba, Steur, Touré, Willock, Ramsey, Miley M.
Referee: Adam Herczeg (Durham)
Preamble
English football is renowned for its classic match-ups – your Man United-Liverpools, your Arsenal-Spurses and so on. But it also boasts a slew of evocative fixtures that, though not ensconced in the top tier, define the game just as essentially, historic clubs telling rich stories, set in mythical grounds which elevate singular cities.
Leeds United v Newcastle United is one such, and both arrive sides at this game in decent nick. Leeds stayed up last season – comfortably, in the end – and strengthened well in the summer, adding James Trafford in net with Tarik Mahuremovic and Nico Elvedi recruited to protect him and the mercurial invention of Harry Wilson augmenting an already decent attack.
Newcastle, meantime, dispensed with the manager who delivered their first major trophy in 56 years, also selling their captain and best midfielder; another first-choice midfielder; and their best attacker. Yet, somehow, they seem to have improved.
I say somehow, but the reasons are clear. Matthias Jaissle has made an excellent start to his stint in the big chair with Nico González settling well in central-midfield. And, next to him, Lewis Miley is developing into the all-round monster he promised to become, while Anthony Elanga, Joe Willock and Yoane Wissa are taking chances largely denied them under the previous regime. Whether or not it lasts remains to be seen but, for now, things are looking good – and that’s before we’ve had a proper look at Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Bazoumana Touré and Aladji Bamba.
All of which means we’re well set for a large helping of “this league” action, under the lights, in one of football’s last remaining bear-pits. Bring it on!
Kick-off: 8pm BST