78% duels lost: Leeds' "woeful" £55k-p/w liability drops another disasterclass vs City - opinion

Leeds United’s quest to remain in the Premier League took a nervy twist on Saturday evening after the Yorkshire outfit were thrashed by league leaders Manchester City at Elland Road.

Jesse Marsch’s side are now sat precariously in the only survival spot above the drop zone, just five points clear of Everton, who hold two games in hand on the Whites – one of which is later this afternoon as they face Frank Lampard’s former club, Chelsea.

That gap could close in half and that’ll only prolong Lees’ relegation fears.

Of course, the Peacocks weren’t expected to see off City in any shape or form but it’s not as if the performance was encouraging whatsoever.

The defending champions had four different goalscorers and managed triple the number of shots on target in west Yorkshire this weekend.

Rodri headed home Phil Foden’s free-kick before the England international was involved in another set-piece, with Ruben Dias flicking on for Nathan Ake to finish. Gabriel Jesus also got on the scoresheet before veteran substitute Fernandinho finished off a quartet of goals in injury time.

At left-back, Junior Firpo endured another nightmare against top-quality opposition – a recurring theme since his summer move from FC Barcelona.

He was among Leeds’ poorest-rated players by SofaScore, so it’s no wonder the American hooked him off in the 67th minute, having also received a booking just six minutes into the encounter.

And that largely summed up his night against the likes of Foden and Raheem Sterling, who certainly had his number. The Dominican Republic-born defender won only two of nine duels (22%) and was dribbled past a whopping five times, epitomising his struggles.

Against the Citizens earlier in the campaign, WhoScored graded him a