Mighty Leeds Weblog

By Kyle Newbould Leeds United are edging towards a deadline day transfer amid reports they have agreed a deal to sign Melvin Bard on loan. Reports emerged overnight that Bard was set to join the Whites on a season-long loan from OGC Nice. The French club are believed to be receiving an initial €1million loan fee with a €5m option to buy. Should Bard’s deadline day deal go through, Leeds will have filled a priority squad gap in the form of left-back cover. Below, the YEP rounds up all you need to know on the man who could become summer signing number six. Who is Melvin Bard? Born near Lyon in France, Bard has spent his entire career in his home country. The defender joined Lyon’s academy as a teenager and after making 34 appearances for their B team, signed a first professional contract in August 2019. Bard made his first-team debut four months later and racked up 19 appearances across all competitions as a youngster. But the opportunity for more regular senior football arri...

By Stuart Rayner "Second-season syndrome" is not something made up by managers to scare their boards into buying new players, it is a thing. Adaptability is a big part of how Leeds United are seeking to stave it off in 2026-27. Famously, tactical flexibility was a big reason why the Whites survived their first season back in the Premier League. Trailing 2-0 at half-time to Manchester City in late November, manager Daniel Farke swapped the 4-3-3 that had been his staple so far that season and switched to a 3-5-2. Leeds still lost the game, but only to a stoppage-time Phil Foden goal. They won the second half 2-1. A new blueprint was written. The 3-5-2 became 3-4-2-1 and got entrenched at Elland Road, to the extent that at times the likes of Daniel James were shoehorned into it. There is a freshness to newly-promoted teams. Normally their tactics can catch opponents on the hop the first time they play them, only for the second half of the campaign to be tougher. That ...

By Lee Sobot The YEP’s take and off-camera moments from Leeds United’s 1-1 draw against Brentford at Elland Road. Leeds United eventually fought back to claim a 1-1 draw against a Brentford side tipped for the top six in Sunday’s first home game of the new Premier League season at Elland Road. A Brentford side that had scored 20 goals in their last four games including the club’s final two friendlies dominated the first half and the Bees deservedly led at the break through a very clever finish from the impressive Kevin Schade.   Leeds, though, eventually got going in the second half after a raft of changes made by boss Daniel Farke, Dominic Calvert-Lewin converting substitute Lukas Nmecha’s sharp cross to ensure the game finished all square. It essentially proved a good day for United’s substitutes but not for two starters. Here’s the YEP’s take including some off-camera moments amid the ongoing Elland Road expansion. Good day Lukas Nmecha All five of United’s sub...

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has etched his name into Premier League history after extending his remarkable goalscoring run to 11 consecutive seasons. The Leeds United striker found the net in the 79th minute against Brentford on Sunday, cancelling out Kevin Schade’s first-half opener to earn Daniel Farke’s side a point in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road. In doing so, Calvert-Lewin became the only player to have scored in every Premier League season since 2016/17. His record dates back to his Everton days, with the forward opening his account against Hull City in 2016/17 when he connected with Tom Davies’ low cross in a 4-0 victory. What began with a single goal has since developed into one of the most consistent goalscoring records in the competition. Calvert-Lewin followed that first strike with four goals in 2017/18 and six in 2018/19, before enjoying a breakthrough campaign in 2019/20 with 13 goals. He reached his Premier League peak the following season, finding the net 16 times fo...

Leeds United can take a lot from the draw against a well-drilled Brentford side but one squad shortfall became even more clear Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter With Brentford scoring 20 goals in their previous four games and nine in their last two, James Trafford and his Leeds United defence were going to face their sternest test of the season since the goalkeeper’s debut against Manchester United in pre-season. This proved to be the case, with Brentford firing in 11 shots in the first half alone. Leeds mustered an xG of just 0.04 in reply. The Whites, so normally dominant at home, were not used to a visiting team being so strangling. Daniel Farke’s half-time change to a back four saw Leeds wrestle back some control and the introduction of Lukas Nmecha and Daniel James midway through the second period ultimately led to Leeds’ equaliser through Dominic Calvert-Lewin. That Leeds can be so flexible, and have the players to do that, is a positive. A lot of praise has to go to ...

Leeds 1-1 Brentford: Kevin Schade scored the opening goal before Calvert-Lewin salvaged a point in the second-half Mark Walker Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired a late equaliser as Leeds fought back to salvage a 1-1 draw against Brentford in their opening home Premier League game of the season. Calvert-Lewin converted substitute Lukas Nmecha’s low cross in the 79th minute after Kevin Schade had given Brentford a deserved half-time lead. Leeds had been given the runaround for the first 45 minutes by a slick Brentford side who dominated, but Leeds responded to boss Daniel Farke’s tactical changes during the break and will feel they deserved their point. There is a real sense of optimism at Elland Road. Back-to-back wins at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League and Carabao Cup have given them early momentum after last season’s strong finish. Further evidence of the club’s intent to become a top-flight force can be seen all around the stadium after work started on its redevelopment...

By Lee Sobot Brentford boss Keith Andrews on his side’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road. Brentford boss Keith Andrews served up Leeds United praise and highlighted the impact of a Whites attacker in a mixed verdict of Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Daniel Farke’s men at Elland Road. Brentford went into Sunday’s Premier League clash at LS11 having scored 20 goals in their last four games including this summer’s final two friendlies and the Bees netted another as Kevin Schade fired them ahead at LS11. The Bees dominated the first half but Leeds gradually got going after boss Farke made a series of changes and his side eventually equalised with 11 minutes left as substitute Lukas Nmecha set up Dominic Calvert-Lewin to convert. Brentford might have been out of sight had they made their first half superiority count but Andrews said playing at Elland Road was not easy as he saluted Farke’s changes and in particular the impact of second half substitute Harry Wilson “rolling ...

Leeds 1-1 Brentford: Daniel Farke praises side's 'never-say-die' attitude after Dominic Calvert-Lewin snatches a late point against red-hot Bees By ROSS HEPPENSTALL There has been plenty of hype surrounding Leeds this summer after some big-money signings and a stadium redevelopment which is now underway. But they needed a late equaliser from Dominic Calvert-Lewin to salvage a point against an upwardly mobile Brentford side who outplayed their hosts comprehensively during the first half. Keith Andrews' dashing men in black threatened to run amok but Kevin Schade's delightful 41st-minute strike was their only reward before the interval. There was even a smattering of boos from the home stands but Daniel Farke boldly changed formation at the break – switching from his customary back three to a flat back four – and Leeds improved markedly as the second half unfolded. With eleven minutes remaining, Calvert-Lewin fired home from close range to leave both manag...

By Stuart Rayner Leeds United rescued a point from their first home game of the Premier League season by trying to play smarter, not harder, against Brentford, according to manager Daniel Farke. Both teams went into the match on the back of great starts to 2026-27, but the away team who had much the better of the first half, taking the lead through Kevin Schade. Farke felt Leeds had to be careful not to get lured into trying to outmuscle impressive opponents, and claimed a 1-1 draw after a second switch of formation produced Dominic Calvert-Lewin's equaliser. Asked what he said at half-time, Farke said of his players: “I think they were also a bit shocked and they were a bit, 'We have to be stronger and fight better and win the duels’. “It's sometimes true that you're not on it, but if you have a look in the data, what we invested in terms of intensity, sprints, cover distance was even more than in the last two away games in Nottingham (where they beat Forest ...

Honours even at Elland Road. Premier League Leeds United 1 (Calvert-Lewin 78’) Brentford 1 (Schade 40’) Leeds United continued their impressive unbeaten start to the new Premier League campaign with a hard-fought draw against Brentford on home soil. A goal down at the break, Dominic Calvert-Lewin showed his predatory instincts late on to poke home an equaliser in front of the Don Revie Stand, in what was a much-improved second half display from the Whites. Ahead of kick off, Daniel Farke named one change to the side that beat Nottingham Forest away from home in the top-flight opener, with Noah Okafor replacing Harry Wilson on the flanks. Before the action got underway, both sets of supporters came together for a poignant moment of reflection as we remember those in the Leeds United family we have sadly lost over the previous 12 months. Elland Road was a cauldron of noise as the encounter began. United enjoyed an early venture forward down the left flank when a burst of ...

By Kyle Newbould Leeds United kickstarted their home Premier League campaign with a decent point. Leeds United came from behind to draw 1-1 against Brentford on Sunday. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second-half goal earned the Whites a decent point in the end. Brentford had gone ahead through Kevin Schade in the first-half but the Whites improved after half-time. Daniel Farke made one change from the side that started in the Premier League against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Noah Okafor came in for new signing Harry Wilson, with Brenden Aaronson moving across to the right. Brentford started the better of the two sides, with James Trafford forced into a couple of early but relatively simple saves. The goalkeeper denied Igor Thiago and Mikkel Damsgaard in quick succession as Leeds struggled to get going. The Whites suffered a concerning injury blow on the half-hour mark, with Joe Rodon forced off after appearing to hold his hamstring. And things got worse before half-time when ...

Work on redeveloping Elland Road should give Leeds United a stadium more befitting of a vibrant regional capital and its team.  Construction projects are very reliant on materials and specialists turning up on time, and often they don’t, but the Leeds work has a special plus (see below). My stepdaughter undertook design work on the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium and upgrading a stadium in situ is no easy task.    She more usually works on venues such as airports and they present challenges, but of a different kind.    There are not that many people who specialise in football stadiums. On May 17th, hours after full time in the final home game of last season, the builders moved in at Elland Road. The redevelopment of the John Charles Stand, which will take its capacity from around 8,000 to more than 17,500 seats, was underway, and the clock has been ticking.    The overall capacity will be 53,000 when the work is finished. The Bremner Suite has been...