Leeds United managed to survive in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth after a season ruined by injuries – but which one cost them the most points?
A good shout would be Kalvin Phillips. The 26-year-old England star missed the entire middle portion of the season and ended up starting for Leeds United just 18 times in the Premier League.
The counter-argument would be that Leeds did have some decent back-up in midfield. The back-up may not have been in the same class as Phillips, and may not have dominated so much, but they were decent stand-ins.
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A big part of the problem for Leeds was that the different injuries kept happening at the same time. When Phillips was out, Liam Cooper was also out, meaning the team lost two of its best internationals.
Thirty-year-old centre-back Cooper was potentially a bigger miss than Phillips, because Cooper controlled that back line, and in his absence there was a gaping hole in terms of experience. Cooper managed to start just 21 times, while fellow centre-back Robin Koch also missed a good chunk of the season through injury.
Luke Ayling was another big miss in terms of experience and knowhow. The 30-year-old right-back got just 26 starts and without him Leeds were missing part of the spirit that had been so vital the season before.
The biggest hit surely however was Patrick Bamford. Last season he played every Premier League match and scored 17 goals with eight assists.
This season he made his England debut but started only seven games for Leeds and got two goals. That is a deficit of 15 goals and lot of league places.
There was nobody to replace him. Poor Daniel James ended up being played out of position and managed to get four goals, but he is not a striker.
Joe Gelhardt stepped up and got two goals. Tyler Roberts tried to fill in and got one goal.
Rodrigo got six goals. Jack Harrison and Raphina were the club's top scorers but none of them could reach the kind of goal-scoring threat posed by Bamford.
To make it in the Premier League a team needs goals. The lack of a striker is what cost Leeds United.
