The starting line-up that saw Leeds United take on Oxford United included a couple of surprises and one of those was the decision to drop Wilfried Gnonto from the first eleven.
It was just the third time that Italy star Wilfried Gnonto has not started in the league for Leeds this term, having started the other 19 games. Recently, Daniel Farke said Gnonto has been better from the bench.
Leeds cruised to a 13th Championship win from 22 league games, keeping their 12th clean sheet of the season to keep the pressure on Sheffield United. The Blades however, also picked up a win, at Cardiff.
Goals from Dan James, Jayden Bogle, Brenden Aaronson and Manor Solomon saw Leeds cruise to an easy win against Gary Rowett’s new side, with Solomon recalled to the starting XI for the first time since Derby.
Tony Dorigo believes Manor Solomon proved his starting XI recall
Solomon has been deemed “too good” for the Championship and even this season, Kevin De Bruyne has spoken of his admiration for Solomon. The hype was huge when he arrived at Leeds from Tottenham.
But it is clear that Solomon is still some way away from being at his best. A year-long injury was always going to see Solomon have to be patient before he could safely say he was back to his brilliant best.
Solomon admits his Leeds form is not his best, just yet. But on Saturday, his speed and trickery opened the scoring when he danced past a number of Oxford defenders to tee up Dan James for his fifth goal.
During commentary on LUTV, Dorigo praised Solomon: “It’s an excellent finish but it’s great work from Manor Solomon on that left-hand side. That’s why teams line-up defensively when they come here.
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“A quick counter, a little bit of fortune for Solomon to skip past a couple of tackles but you get in these positions and keep your head up, he certainly can. Quality. Gets his chance, comes up trumps. Brilliant.”
Why Manor Solomon is actually Leeds’ best-performing winger
A goal and two assists on Saturday has seen Solomon take his tally from three involvements this season to six, having previously scored a brace in the 4-3 win over Swansea and created a goal against Hull City.
| Name | Games (Starts) | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Minutes per G+A |
| Wilfried Gnonto | 22 (19) | 1554 | 4 | 5 | 172.7 |
| Brenden Aaronson | 22 (20) | 1686 | 6 | 2 | 210.3 |
| Dan James | 16 (12) | 1067 | 5 | 2 | 152.4 |
| Manor Solomon | 15 (7) | 745 | 3 | 3 | 124.2 |
Leeds have four stunning, Premier League-quality options out wide. But judging by the numbers and that Solomon takes less than a game in half to create or score, the Israel star is actually outperforming others.
It will be interesting to see what Daniel Farke does out wide when Leeds go to Stoke City on Boxing Day as the Championship reaches its halfway point. A win again, could see Leeds go and overtake The Blades.
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