Leeds trio join Magpies, Foxes and Seagulls in Premier League weekend’s worst XI…

Ian Watson
Newcastle striker Callum Wilson, Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele, and Leeds winger Wilfried Gnonto.

There were two keepers worse than David De Gea this weekend, while Brighton, Leicester and Leeds are all represented by three players each in this mad weekend’s worst XI…

Judging by their WhoScored ratings, this lot had a miserable Bank Holiday weekend…

 

GK: Jason Steele – 4.47
The Brighton keeper was the lowest-ranked of five sub-six keepers this weekend and one of three worse than David De Gea (5.59). Steele made one save but still conceded five goals from five shots on target, with Everton profiting from a first-half own goal by Roberto De Zerbi’s stopper of choice. For now.

 

RB: Timothy Castagne – 5.93
Going forward, Castagne helped spark a brief Leicester revival, crossing in the build-up to Harvey Barnes’ goal and passing into Jamie Vardy before the penalty the striker missed. But like most of Dean Smith’s men, he struggled defensively, giving Fulham the ball 14 times.

 

CB: Wout Faes – 5.70
The Leicester centre-back endured a wretched first half, running around in circles for Fulham’s second goal and giving the ball away in the build up to the third. Overall, Faes lost two-thirds of his six duels.

 

CB: Fabian Schar – 5.69 
The Newcastle centre-back scored an own goal at one end and missed a big chance at the other. Schar gave Arsenal the ball 14 times, most of the time from an aimless lump, with only one of his nine attempted long passes finding a black-and-white shirt.

Fabian Schar reacts after scoring an own-goal in Newcastle's defeat to Arsenal.

LB: Pervis Estupinan – 5.40
The Brighton left-back seemed to go AWOL for Everton’s first couple of goals and though he improved after the break, the damage had been done. Lost four of six duels and gave the ball away 23 times.

 

MF: Boubakary Soumare – 5.93
The Leicester midfielder was dispossessed for Fulham’s second goal and Soumare wildly missed a tackle in the build-up to the fourth. One of three hooked by Smith before the Foxes scored twice late on as Fulham eased off.

 

MF: Adam Forshaw – 5.87
Just 11 accurate passes from central midfield for Forshaw and eight turnovers from 23 touches before Sam Allardyce put him out of his misery with 10 still to go.

 

AM: Denis Undav – 5.80
Undav played just off Danny Welbeck for 45 minutes before both were hooked as part of a quadruple substitution just before the break. Every fourth touch of 16 was a turnover, though Undav will reasonably point to an abject lack of service.

 

RW: Willy Gnonto – 5.60
One of the great mysteries of Javi Gracia’s reign at Leeds was why he seemed wholly reluctant to play Gnonto, who has been one of the stars of a miserable season for the Yorkshiremen. Perhaps the answer was to be found in his 15 touches in just under an hour at the Etihad and his 0% success rate in five duels. No dribbles, crosses, shots, tackles or interceptions.

Read more: Liverpool flop and Leeds record buy among ten stupidest transfers of the Premier League season

 

LW: Jack Harrison – 5.62
It is difficult to be too hard on Leeds’ attacking players, especially those who only played the first hour or so while Manchester City passed around them. But Harrison is damned by the fact he lost possession 12 times from only 15 touches. Like Gnonto, Harrison also lost all of his duels while failing to complete a dribble.

 

CF: Callum Wilson – 5.81
The Newcastle striker was pocketed by Arsenal defenders Gabriel and Jakub Kiwior, who restricted Wilson to just 17 touches, which led to 11 turnovers. No shots and only three accurate passes before Eddie Howe replaced him in the 78th minute.