West Ham player ratings vs Leeds United: 3/10 shocking, Lucas Paqueta shining light
West Ham fell to a third straight Premier League defeat against Leeds United.
West Ham travelled to face Leeds on Friday in the hope of bouncing back to winning ways under Nuno Espirito Santo.
After West Ham lost 2-0 to Brentford last time out, there was a desperate need for a change in performance level, but it didn’t come.
Brendan Aaronson and Joe Rodon netted to make it 2-0 before Jarrod Bowen so nearly scored for West Ham with an acrobatic effort.
The second half then got away from the away side despite Mateus Fernandes’ late header to make it 2-1, as the Hammers fell to yet another loss.
Here, West Ham Zone rates each player’s performance out of 10.
Lucas Paqueta beacon of light for West Ham
Paqueta started upfront for West Ham against Leeds, just as he did in the defeat at the London Stadium last time around.
The Brazil international wasn’t truly effective in that area and looked much improved when given a free role in the centre of the park.
He was undoubtedly trying to make things happen for the away side and was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet when his effort was ruled out for offside.
Having completed 34 passes, created one chance and taken one shot, it is clear that his effort was going in the right direction to get on the scoresheet.
Paqueta also completed one dribble and won 11 duels on the night, even if it wasn’t to be for the attacking midfielder in Yorkshire.
Andy Irving struggled vs Leeds United
It was a surprise that Nuno opted to persist with the Scotland international in the starting 11.
The Portuguese head coach wasn’t proven right in the end as Irving failed to get a grip on the game at Elland Road, truly.
The 25-year-old completed 36 passes, but that was as good as it got for the midfielder.
Irving failed to complete any of his attempted crosses, while being dispossessed once and being on the wrong end of four duels.
Freddie Potts eventually came on to replace the Scot, but by then it was arguably too little too late from Nuno.
West Ham player ratings vs Leeds United
Alphonse Areola – 5
Ollie Scarles – N/A
Jean Clair-Todibo – 3
Max Kilman – 4
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 4
Andy Irving – 3
Tomas Soucek – 4
Lucas Paqueta – 7
El Hadji Malick Diouf – 4
Crysencio Summerville – 4
Jarrod Bowen – 5
Substitutes
Callum Wilson – 5
Freddie Potts – 5
Mateus Fernandes – 6
Soungoutou Magassa – N/A
Kyle Walker-Peters – N/A
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