Sunderland, who were without Robin Roefs (£4.9 million) and had only Granit Xhaka (£5.1 million) on the bench and secured a narrow 1-0 win over Leeds United.
Here are our Scout Notes from Elland Road.
ROEFS INJURY LAST
Roefs was absent from the matchday selection on Tuesday, a blow to his 11.3% ownership.
Before the match, Regis Le Bris confirmed that he had suffered a hamstring injury.
“A slight hamstring injury. He stretched his leg in a good save for us in Bournemouth, but unfortunately he suffered an injury. I hope it won’t be too long.” – Regis Le Bris on Robin Roefs
Le Bris later revealed that Roefs could be out for two to three weeks.
“It’s not clear at the moment because it would be based on symptoms. It could take two, maybe three weeks. We’ll see for Newcastle.” [Gameweek 31]we’ll see, we’ll have to wait. – Regis Le Bris on Robin Roefs
Bertrand Traore (£5.5m) meanwhile had to be withdrawn late due to a possible knee injury.
Le Bris said that too Jocelyn Ta-Bi (£5.0m) has undergone surgery on his ankle and is expected to miss 10 to 12 weeks.
WHY XHAKA WAS A SUB
In a further setback, Xhaka was left on the bench after only returning from injury on Saturday when he played 75 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Bournemouth.
Le Bris explained that the quick turnaround time between matches was a key factor.
“We are following the process for Granit, three days after the last match it was a little too short for him to start. He will come on the field later.” – Regis Le Bris on granite heritage
Xhaka was brought on just before the hour mark at Elland Road and it was no coincidence that Sunderland showed immediate improvement after his arrival.
ANOTHER SUNDERLAND CLEAN SHEET, DIARRA PEN
With Roefs out, £4.0m goalkeeper Melker Ellborg made his debut, having only joined the club in the January transfer window.
The 22-year-old also impressed, with four saves and the maximum bonus.
The performances of Omar Alderete (£4.1 million) and Then Ballard (€4.6m) for him certainly helped, with the partnership between the centre-backs excellent throughout.
Consistently positioned to intercept anything aimed at them, they both racked up Defensive Contribution Points (DefCon), with 22 and 16 DefCons respectively.
“Omar [Alderete] and Dan [Ballard] were impressive – they are back to their best.” – Regis Le Bris
Sunderland have now kept nine clean sheets this season, sixth most of all teams, and this is the fourth time in a row.
Above: Teams sorted by clean sheets in 2025/26
Le Bris’ troops found a way to win at Elland Road, but it certainly wasn’t pretty.
Indeed, Habib Diarra‘s (£5.3m) second-half penalty was Sunderland’s only shot on target.
Diarra stepped up to score the penalty Enzo Le Fee (£5.0m) on the pitch, even though it was a very poor penalty.
At least Le Fee delivered DefCon points, with some really impressive off-the-ball work.
CALVERT-LEWIN BLANK
As for Leeds, they dominated the ball (70% possession) but lacked quality in the final third, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.7 million) and therefore blank for the sixth time in seven games.
In that period he scored just one goal from fourteen shots, a conversion rate of just 7.1%.
He has also missed six of his seven big chances.
“Clarity in the final third. This is what we need to add. In terms of performance, what we have invested, we cannot complain. We are always self-critical. You have to put the ball in the net. This is what we need to improve.” -Daniel Wake
Joe Rodon (£3.9m) came closest to finding the net on Tuesday when his goal from a Anton Stach (£4.7m) delivery was ruled out by VAR for offside.
Stach benched DefCon and also had a free kick saved, with a total of three shots and two chances.
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