Since the start of the season, Leeds United have been touted as one of the favourites to gain Premier League promotion due to the quality within their ranks.
They currently sit second in the league thanks to their recent 1-1 draw against Preston and are currently three points adrift of Yorkshire rivals, Sheffield United.
Despite their poor overall performance, Dan James was a particular highlight for the Whites from Saturday’s clash, with the Welshman arguably the best player on the West Yorkshire outfit’s team.
In fact, since his return from injury, the former Manchester United man has quickly made his way to the top of Daniel Farke’s teamsheet and it doesn’t look likely that he’s going to be replaced in the starting XI any time soon.
In fact, his performance was so good that Graham Smyth labelled the winger as “dangerous” for the impact he had on the clash.
“Leeds United’s best player by a country mile. He was dangerous, created chances and made runs down the right all afternoon,” he wrote for the Yorkshire Evening Post’s website (15 December).
“The Preston defence weren’t able to get to grips with him, couldn’t stop him cutting inside or going outside. It was little wonder that the equaliser came from his good work. A man in form.”
Dan James could be the answer Leeds United have been looking for
The summer departures of Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter rocked the Whites’ fanbase and while both Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani were brought in as their replacements, at the moment, it feels like Farke may have already had his answer within his ranks.
James has quickly become one of the most important players at Elland Road and at the moment, it feels like nobody within the squad can get near him.
As per Sofascore, in the 90 minutes, the attacker was on the pitch, he maintained a pass accuracy of 69 per cent and had 37 touches of the ball.
Of the 11 passes he completed, three of them were deemed key passes with one of them helping Leeds create a big chance.
His xA and xG weren’t the highest with 0.51 and 0.07 being the numbers he earned but his prominence in attack was second to none.
James was also fairly strong defensively as he won 100 per cent of his aerial duels and was only dribbled past three times.
He did lose possession of the ball 18 times but due to his involvement in the game, he’s more likely to lose the ball compared to his teammates.
If James can keep up this level of form across the season, it’s hard to see why he won’t become pivotal to the team and be able to slot straight into the void that was left by the Dutchman’s departure in summer.
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