Leeds United threaten Premier League’s claim to fame after Papa John’s Trophy rescue bid - YEP 6/10/22

Aston Villa might have been thieves of joy at Elland Road on Sunday but players wearing the colours of Leeds United still delivered it to fans in spades this week.

By Graham Smyth

Who could have predicted that the Premier League would lose its 'best in the world' status to the Papa John's Trophy?

When it comes to individual quality, global interest and financial clout, it's impossible to see the English top flight ever being bettered by another domestic competition.

The rest of Europe's 'big five' leagues can only dream of the income, expenditure and exposure afforded to all and sundry in the division to which almost all of the world's biggest and brightest talents flock.

Yet for Leeds United supporters this week there was no contest as Tuesday's Papa John's clash with League Two Tranmere Rovers delivered abundantly more joy than Sunday's Premier League stalemate with Aston Villa.

And it might be that way, at least at times this season, for the Whites.

It's all a bit serious in the Premier League, where relegation can mean staff redundancies, managerial and player departures, financial strife and years in the EFL wilderness.

Points are so vital to the overall health and wealth of Premier League clubs that things can get very cagey in tight matches and entertainment plays second fiddle to pragmatism.

No one wants to make a mistake that will cost a club so bitterly and a safety-first approach renders risk-taking almost inconceivable.

Leeds know this all too well having stayed up on the merit of a single victory last season, when beauty and reckless abandon were abandoned in the process of grinding out results.

Even in the early stages of a season, when all but a handful or so of top flight clubs are still acutely aware of the threat of relegation, points are to be treasured.

That's why, on Sunday, when Leeds went down to 10 men they simply had to do what was necessary to see the game out. It's not that they stopped trying to score - Patrick Bamford made chances for himself and Mateusz Klich - but they could stream forward in attack and leave themselves vulnerable against the 11 men of Villa.

It's why Villa arrived with a gameplan to frustrate Leeds, seeking a clean sheet and at least a point from their Elland Road visit with joy-thieving tactics.

Leeds do not fancy another season like the last one and while Jesse Marsch wants to deliver entertainment, principally in the form of intense, aggressive defending and quick, direct attacking, he also wants clean sheets.

Sunday's 0-0 draw allowed the Whites to match last season's tally of Premier League clean sheets - two - after just four home games.

With Tyler Adams and Marc Roca sitting in front of his back four he is setting Leeds up as a harder side to break down, centrally, and it's working. They lead the Premier League in middle third pressures.

That mindset does not preclude joy or goals - the 3-0 win over Chelsea is sufficient proof of that - it does however sacrifice much of the madcap unpredictability of his predecessor's Leeds.

Anyone complaining about that could be pointed in the direction of the complaints fired at Bielsa last term for not making Leeds harder to play through and more defensively sound.

Or, they could direct their attention to Michael Skubala's Under 21s, where it's all fun and games.

At Tranmere it rained goals, as it has done all season long.

Joe Gelhardt, dropped from the squad for the Villa game, dropped in to play 90 minutes with his mates, terrifying defenders and banging in goals on Merseyside just like the old days.

Allowing him to do so will give him that little spark of confidence he has needed in recent weeks - as an audacious 35-yard attempt at a hat-trick goal suggested.

He was having fun. So was Mateo Joseph, scoring his ninth in seven games and celebrating it like all the others, like it was a Premier League goal.

Darko Gyabi was turning gracefully away from tackles and with scarcely a second's thought, finding chance-creating passes.

Cody Drameh was bombing forward down the right flank, exposing himself to a desperate sprint back if it all went wrong but making it all right with a lovely goal.

Sonny Perkins maintained his 10-game goalscoring streak and Willy Gnonto set about winding up everyone and anyone with his catch-me-or-kick-me dribbling and a grin the width of the Mersey.

At 5-3 up, Sam Greenwood's red card did not have the end-of-the-world potential that accompanied Luis Sinisterra's on Sunday. Instead it held the promise of yet more drama, without the prospect of social media meltdowns and a prickly press conference. It's the Papa John's, not the uppermost crust of the English game.

And yes, 5-3 is a tremendous scoreline for any football game.

Skubala might desire clean sheets too but when your front line is scoring enough to make you unbeaten and top of your table, he can't grumble. No one can.

Long may it continue too, because there will be weeks when there is little to smile about at first team level, little to cheer and only grim satisfaction to take from results like the one against Villa, so the 21s will be doing everyone at the club a great service.

If you can't get your kicks in the big league, get them watching the ball flying into opposition nets at a rate of 4.14 per game.

At Premier League level, Leeds are set up to be competitive and, touch wood, look capable of staying clear of last season's strife.

At Premier League 2 second tier level, Leeds are set up to thrill and look well capable.