Leeds United will be busy preparing for Sunday’s play-off semi-final against Norwich City at Carrow Road and it is crucial the Whites avoid defeat with one player crucial to securing a result.
Leeds failed to hold onto second in the final few games of the season as Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich took advantage of Daniel Farke’s men losing four of their last six Championship matches to climb above Leeds.
It means The Whites go into the play-offs this month and while there is disappointment that Farke could not deliver automatic promotion, it is still a huge achievement given the mess he inherited last summer.
Players leaving on loan without Farke being able to stop them and in turn, having little cash to spend on players he wanted to bring in to replace them and issues like Willy Gnonto refusing to play for Leeds.
But Farke has coped with them all, getting the best out of his players and looking like a certainty before the March international break to win automatic promotion only for Leeds to die off in the last few games.
But attention now turns to Norwich and avoiding defeat away from home in the first leg is pivotal. Illan Meslier will be central to that, with the Frenchman set to start between the sticks once again for Leeds.
Meslier has come under fire in recent games but the Frenchman will be key on Sunday and one stat will certainly give Leeds fans hope that the £5m man can help Leeds win.
Illan Meslier stat will give Leeds fans confident at Norwich
Meslier should have kept more goals out this term even though the Frenchman won the Championship’s golden glove with 19 clean sheets in 44 matches – conceding only 40 league goals throughout 2023-24.
But LeedsUnited.News ran a report in April that said he had a goals prevented statistic of -3.9. It means the Whites should have conceded four less goals with Meslier between the sticks than they should have.
Meslier has managed to keep just one clean sheet in the last eight league games for Leeds. But another stat will gives Leeds fans hope and that is that Meslier has faced Norwich four times, and won four times.
Meslier’s four wins over Norwich include huge Jesse Marsch win
His first game against Norwich was a trip to Carrow Road under Marcelo Bielsa in the Argentine’s final season, in which Leeds won 2-1. Then, the return fixture at Elland Road which again ended in a 2-1 win.
Jesse Marsch celebrated as Meslier booted the ball down field in injury time. A Joe Gelhardt flick found Raphinha who rounded the goalkeeper and returned the ball to Gelhardt to score a 94th-minute winner.
This season, Meslier conceded two goals before Leeds came back to win 3-2 in East Anglia before his first clean sheet against Norwich came in a 1-0 win in January with Patrick Bamford scoring the only goal.