Good Morning. It's Monday 28th September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Leeds’ record signing already top of the Premier League save charts
James Trafford is already looking like the signing Leeds paid a club-record fee to get. The 23-year-old joined from Manchester City in August for a deal reported at around £40m (some figures put the package higher, in the mid-£40ms), becoming both Leeds’ most expensive player and the most expensive British goalkeeper. Five Premier League games later, Daniel Farke’s side are unbeaten in fifth and Trafford is top of two of the division’s most basic goalkeeping lists. According to Squawka, he has made more saves than any other Premier League keeper this season (20) and leads the league in save percentage (87%). Leeds have conceded only three league goals.Two of those five starts have been clean sheets: the 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend and the 0-0 at home to Crystal Palace. He also kept a shutout in the League Cup win over Forest. The European comparison is even tidier. As relayed by Johnny Cooper, that 87% save rate is the second-best of any goalkeeper across Europe’s big-five leagues this season. First is a former Leeds man: Elia Caprile, now at Cagliari, on 91%. Caprile was an unused substitute eight times under Marcelo Bielsa and never played a competitive minute for the club. Two keepers who passed through Elland Road, occupying the top two spots in Europe, we must be doing something right.
Caveats apply, five games is a small sample, and some of the shots Trafford has faced have been the kind a well-organised defence funnels down the keeper’s throat. Expected-goals-on-target numbers still suggest he has already prevented at least one goal. Jordan Pickford, his main England rival, sits behind him on both Premier League save volume and save percentage. The point of the transfer was regular football after a year as City’s understudy. He has it, Leeds have an unbeaten start, and the raw numbers have followed. The next test is whether 87% and 20 saves still look this good once the sample grows, starting with Arsenal away after the international break.
Elvedi staying grounded after impressive start to campaign
Nico Elvedi says Leeds United “deserve” their top five placement in the Premier league, highlighting their spectacular performance over Newcastle Utd earlier this month. The result followed two games without a league win, but Leeds had played well in patches against Brighton and Chelsea. This time they finished the job. Three of the first-half goals took deflections, yet 4-1 still matched the gap between the sides. Bazoumana Touré’s 90th-minute consolation was the only blot. Daniel Farke called it one of their best displays in a year, while still wanting a clean sheet.Elvedi, in his first midweek night at Elland Road, was struck by the crowd. “Everyone told me it would be amazing, and it was amazing,” he said.“When we went on the pitch, we feel this. It’s pushing us.” On the table: “We deserve this win. We played a very good game from the start to the end… I think we deserve third place, but we have to keep going.”Farke praised the maturity of going 3-0 up before half-time rather than settling for 1-0, then pushing for Noah Okafor’s fourth. He still found faults, sloppy late possession, an avoidable goal, a loose touch from Ao Tanaka - because, he said, it is easier to be critical when the mood is good. After four league games only City and Arsenal had more points. Elvedi would not get carried away. Four games mean little. The job is to keep playing the same way.
Celebs and former players out in force for charity event
Former Leeds United players and a long list of celebrities have helped raise another £17,372 for the Elliot James Bransby Memorial Shield, taking the four-year total to £42,104. This year’s money goes to Martin House Children’s Hospice. Elliot Bransby died unexpectedly in November 2019, aged 30. The shield match began in 2023. This year’s game, Team Cherry v Team Clarke at the John Charles Centre for Sport, is what organiser David Bransby calls “Yorkshire’s SoccerAid”. Guest managers included Leeds figures Howard Wilkinson, Simon Grayson and Neil Aspin, plus Ellery Hanley and Peter “Stix” Lockwood. Ex-Whites on the pitch were Seb Carole, Andy Couzens, Sanchez Payne and David Norris.Celebrity players and guests: comedian Jon Richardson; Coronation Street’s Kyran Bowes and Luca Toolan; Emmerdale’s Jay Kontzle; MasterChef’s Dale Spink; Britain’s Got Talent singer Finley Barrett-Carter; darts champion Joe Cullen; Happy Valley’s Rhys Connah; content creators Cal the Dragon and The Yorkshire Indian (Bobby Sharma). Eddie Gray and Linda Gray were among those at the presentation with Donna Bransby, Simon Wood and Martin House fundraiser Sam Berrill. Bransby called the day “magical”. Next year’s fifth event will again be at the John Charles Centre, date to be confirmed in November, with proceeds going to The Hunslet Club. Event ambassadors named for the future: Eddie Gray, Jon Richardson, Simon Grayson, Gordon Strachan, Dom Matteo, Ralph Ineson, Finley Barrett-Carter and Colin Montgomerie.
