Leeds United recorded a well-deserved 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Friday, with goals scored by Jayden Bogle (£4.4m), Noah Okafor (£5.5m) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.9m).
Here are our Scout Notes from Elland Road.
CALVERT-LEWIN “HUNGRY FOR MORE”
Calvert-Lewin netted his 10th Premier League goal of the season at Elland Road on Friday.
Of those goals, nine have been scored in 13 matches since the end of November, a period (Gameweeks 13-25) which has seen him produce 76 points, the most of any forward.
Against Forest, the superb Ilia Gruev (£4.7m) provided his second assist of the night, when his cross was chested into the net by Calvert-Lewin.
He’d previously seen a header smash off the bar, too.
“When you go into any season, double figures is what you’ve got to aim for as a No 9 in this league. Double figures and above. It’s nice to hit that milestone but I’m hungry for more. I’m striving every day to improve and keep scoring more goals. The faith and belief the club and the fanbase and manager have put in me has helped me a lot. I like to think I’m repaying that. I’m really enjoying my football and leading the line. I’ve not [scored double figures] for a while. It’s something I’ve been striving for since the last time I did it. I understand I’m judged on goals like any centre forward but I try to lead by example and bring as much experience to the team as possible.” – Dominic Calvert-Lewin
In a performance full of attacking intent, Leeds created seven big chances against Forest, the most they’ve managed in a single game all season.
They’ve now lost just two of their last 13 matches in all competitions, with a trip to Stamford Bridge up next on Tuesday.
BOGLE/GUDMUNDSSON THREAT
Leeds were excellent on Friday, with their wing-backs a constant threat.
Bogle ended up in the centre-forward position for his opener, slotting in after a superb pass from Gruev.
“I’ve been working on those runs in behind and luckily, Ilia [Gruev] found me with a great pass and then I just tried to stay cool and composed in front of goal.” – Jayden Bogle
Okafor added a quickfire second shortly after.
Gabriel Gudmundsson (£3.8m) was particularly bright, too.
Positioned high up the pitch, he found plenty of joy down the left, particularly in the first-half. A constant outlet for his teammates, Gudmundsson received 14 passes in the final-third, the most of any player on the pitch.
Above: Gabriel Gudmundsson’s touch heatmap in Gameweek 25
There was no clean sheet for Leeds, however, with Forest debutant Lorenzo Lucca (£5.5m) heading into the net late on. The 6ft 7in centre-forward carried a threat after he came on, in stark contrast to the ineffective performance of Igor Jesus (£5.8m).
MURILLO INJURY LATEST
Sean Dyche was without influential centre-back Murillo (£5.2m) on Friday due to injury.
The Brazilian sustained a calf issue on Thursday and has already been sent for a scan.
“He got injured yesterday after training. He reported something in his calf and he’s had a scan and there’s something there. It’s not drastic but we need to hope that it calms down pretty quickly and it just depends on how his body heals really.” – Sean Dyche on Murillo
The absence of Murillo and the suspended Neco Williams (£4.7m) forced a defensive reshuffle.
Morato (£4.3m) took Murillo’s spot in defence, youngster Zach Abbott (£3.8m) started at right back, with Ola Aina (£4.7m) moving over to the left.
But Forest were all at sea as a result, conceding 2.5 expected goals (xG).
Morato and Abbott were particularly poor, while debutant Stefan Ortega (£4.7m), in for the injured Matz Sels (£4.6m), should probably have done better in goal.
“The killer is giving away three awful goals. The first came after we had calmed everything down and were getting into the game. It was an awful goal from our point of view; just a straight ball over the defence. No one likes that as a manager. Then they scored another. At half-time, I said we have to rethink but then we concede very early in the second half. By the end, we are trying to affect the game – and the subs did well – but it is too late by then. There is no qualms about the result; they were better than us on the night. You have to do the basics and we didn’t do them. Our performance wasn’t there. We had to match their energy, and we didn’t.” – Sean Dyche
Williams is at least back from suspension in midweek, but if Murillo is set for a spell on the sidelines, it’s surely good news for Mateus Mane (£4.6m) owners in Double Gameweek 26, with Wolverhampton Wanderers set to square off against Forest on Wednesday.
The 67th-minute substitution of Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.3m), who got himself into some decent positions in the first half, was surely made with that upcoming six-pointer in mind, with Forest 3-0 down at the time of his withdrawal.
MORE ANDERSON/STRUIJK DEFCON
Elliot Anderson (£5.3m) banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points for a record ninth consecutive game on Friday.
The central midfielder has now produced DefCon in 18 of his 25 starts this season.
Above: Players sorted by DefCon success rate (%) in 2025/26 (min 500 mins)
Pascal Struijk (£4.3m) is another DefCon magnet – he’s now on a run of eight DefCon returns in his last 10 starts.
Tricky tests await Leeds this month, with matches against Chelsea, Aston Villa and Manchester City to come.
However, Struijk could be a cheap defender to consider from Gameweek 29, when Leeds’ fixtures become much more favourable.
His first strike of the campaign is surely on the way: Struijk has produced the highest xG tally of any player in the division without a goal so far this season (2.43).
As for Joe Rodon (£3.9m), he should bank DefCon points in the next update.
