Burnley 2-0 Leeds: Which star failed to take their chance, what the Clarets’ tactics tell us about their survival hopes – and the selection headache facing Daniel Farke

Burnley picked up a crucial three points with a 2-0 victory over Leeds at Turf Moor on Saturday.

Lesley Ugochukwu opened the scoring in the first half, netting for the second game in a row before Loum Tchaouna added a stunning goal in the second period. 

The result was just Burnley’s second league win of the season, and it was enough for Scott Parker’s side to jump out of the relegation zone.

But it was a bad afternoon for Leeds and Daniel Farke after some positive displays over recent games. 

Daily Mail Sport’s AADAM PATEL was at Turf Moor and he has picked out some key talking points.  

Promoted sides impressing

After eight Premier League games, the combined points tally of the six teams that got promoted in 2023 and 2024 was 23. 

This year, Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland have already amassed 29 points between them with none of them in the relegation zone as things stand. 

This was a bad defeat for Leeds who were arguably the better side but yet again lacked that clinical edge in front of goal as they wasted an array of chances. 

In contrast, Burnley scored two great goals with two of their four attempts ending in the back of the net. Leeds had 19 attempts.

The victory was an important one for Scott Parker’s men against their fellow promoted side

Darlow or Perri? 

With Lucas Perri still not at ‘100 per cent’, Karl Darlow started in net again for Leeds. Darlow has done well since coming into the starting eleven last month but his distribution here was a serious concern. 

Just moments before Burnley took the lead, the 35-year-old inexplicably gave away a throw in trying to play out from the back. Behind us in the press box, one of the Leeds analysts smashed his desk in fury. 

Darlow had no chance of keeping out Lesley Ugochukwu’s header from Walker’s cross and the Leeds marking was suspect but the situation could and should have been avoided.

Karl Darlow kept his place over Lucas Perri but his distribution remains a concern for Leeds

What do Burnley’s tactics tell us about their survival hopes? 

Going into this game, Burnley averaged just 35.3 per cent possession in the Premier League this season. And that trend continued with Scott Parker’s side having just 31.5 per cent possession here. 

They crucially won the three points but it made for an unusual atmosphere with Leeds dominating possession. That said, the Clarets have won seven points at home this season with their only defeat coming against Liverpool. 

But their season average for possession is the third-lowest by any side in a Premier League campaign on Opta’s records ahead of only Cardiff in 2018-19 (33.9%) and Sheffield United in 2023-24 (35%). Both those sides went down.

Leeds star fails to take his chance

With Noah Okafor out with an adductor injury, Jack Harrison was given his first Premier League start of the season. 

There was no shortage of effort on Harrison’s part but he was involved in a real battle against Kyle Walker, who was excellent. 

Late on in the first half, he did really well to tee up Brenden Aaronson who should have scored then in the second half, Harrison wasted a massive chance of his own firing over from inside the box. 

With two goals, Okafor is still Leeds’ top scorer this season and on a day where they failed to convert some golden opportunities, the Swiss forward was definitely missed.

Leeds created plenty of chances, but this was a bad day at the office and a damaging defeat

The goal you have to watch! 

Loum Tchaouna’s strike is already an early goal of the season contender and well worth a watch. His left-footed hit from outside the box was too good and went past Darlow, who had no chance. 

The 22-year-old arrived from Lazio in the summer for a fee in the region of £13M. Born in Chad, Tchaouna represents France at international level and has played in the youth sides for the France national side. 

And this was an early sign of what Burnley fans can expect from Tchaouna, who got off the mark in style. Despite their lack of possession, it was Burnley who had all the quality in front of goal.