Leeds United nudged themselves four points clear of the Premier League’s drop zone after a drab 0?0 draw with Brentford at Elland Road. Both teams spent the 90 minutes cancelling each other out, with the forwards on either end looking completely ineffective against well?organised defences. The only genuine chances came from distance, Lukas?Nmecha’s curling effort from outside the box forced Caoimhin?Kelleher into a comfortable save, while after the break Ethan?Ampadu and Ao?Tanaka tried their luck from similar ranges only to be denied again by the Brentford shot-stopper.

Brentford entered the match with a chance to climb to within a point of the top?five, especially after Chelsea and Liverpool stumbled earlier on Saturday. Instead, they were forced to settle for a point that lifted them back up to seventh, while Leeds remain 15th. The Bees’ talisman, Igor?Thiago, who is chasing his 20th league goal, was largely silenced by a disciplined Leeds back line and could do little more than blast a few shots wide.

The most frantic spell came in stoppage time when Leeds piled on a series of corners, desperate for a breakthrough that never materialised. In spite of winning possession seven times in the final third, their second?best tally of the season, the Whites failed to produce a clear?cut chance. Dominic?Calvert?Lewin, freshly recalled to the England squad, was virtually anonymous; he never received any kind of service to showcase his quality, though the same could be said about Thiago.

	Line Up		Nat	Match Events
	26	Darlow, Karl Goalkeeper			6.3
	24	Bogle, Jayden Defender			6.1
	2	Justin, James Defender			5.7
	5	Struijk, Pascal Defender			7.2
	6	Rodon, Joe Defender			6.8
	15	Bijol, Jaka Defender			6.9
	4	Ampadu, Ethan Midfielder			6.7
	18	Stach, Anton Midfielder			★7.9
	11	Aaronson, Brenden Midfielder			5.2
	14	Nmecha, Lukas Forward			5.9
	9	Calvert-Lewin, Dominic Forward			5.5
	Subs		Nat	Match Events
	1	Perri, Lucas Goalkeeper		Unused Sub
	23	Bornauw, Sebastiaan Defender		Unused Sub
	44	Gruev, Ilia Midfielder		Unused Sub
	8	Longstaff, Sean Midfielder		Unused Sub
	22	Tanaka, Ao Midfielder			6.5
	29	Gnonto, Wilfried Midfielder		Unused Sub
	7	James, Daniel Midfielder			6.1
	19	Okafor, Noah Midfielder			4.3
	10	Piroe, Joel Forward		Unused Sub