Nahki Wells scored a controversial goal against Leeds United on Saturday lunchtime to secure his Queens Park Rangers side a 1-0 victory over the Whites, casting their automatic promotion credentials into further doubt.  

Leeds have a woeful record in London, not just this season, but over the course of the last 24 months. Their last victory in the capital did come over the R’s in December 2017, with many hoping that facing up to QPR again over the weekend would present them a chance to pick up a rare three points in the city they hate to visit.

Yet, Wells struck on 20 minutes after a deflected free-kick fell his way in the box. The opening goal wasn’t without controversy, though; the striker twice handled the ball before sending a shot past the grounded Kiko Casilla. Leeds would appeal, but officials wouldn’t be moved.

Later in the game, Patrick Bamford spurned a golden chance from the penalty spot just after the hour, before Leeds’ afternoon went from bad to worse on 88 minutes: Kalvin Phillips lunged in on Geoff Cameron, picked up a straight red card and now finds himself banned for the next three fixtures.

It was a damaging defeat for Leeds in more ways than one, but was it expected given Marcelo Bielsa’s side’s recent trips to London? You’d be forgiven for thinking so, given their record in the capital city, as our graphic shows:

So far this season Leeds have suffered six defeats in the Championship; two have come at Elland Road (Swansea City and Sheffield Wednesday), whilst the other four have all come in London.

Charlton Athletic, Millwall, Fulham and now QPR have beaten Bielsa’s side, who have also lost on a trip to London in the FA Cup (Arsenal, 1-0).

They’ve scored only twice, through Ezgjan Alioski at Millwall and Bamford on the trip to Fulham, but conceded six goals in the four outings.

However, things haven’t gone their way in terms of decisions from the officials, with Leeds receiving two red cards and also conceding two penalties.

The two penalty decisions were both deemed to be the wrong call with hindsight, but they significantly contributed to defeats at Millwall and Fulham.

Gaetano Berardi allegedly caught Tom Bradshaw as he broke into the box when Leeds met Millwall in October, with the forward taking a tumble inside the area. This resulted in a red card for the former and the penalty was converted by Jed Wallace to set the Lions up for their 2-1 win.

Fast-forward to Leeds’ next trip to London, which comes on December 21^st. Bielsa’s side are unbeaten since the loss at Millwall, but what awaits them is another infuriating decision.

After only seven minutes, Ben White was adjudged to have pulled down Bobby Reid in the penalty area, with another soft penalty awarded against the Whites. Aleksandar Mitrovic converted, and despite Bamford’s equaliser, Josh Onomah secured a 2-1 win for the Cottagers later in the second-half.

There was no red-card for White, but there was for Phillips on Leeds’ next trip to London. No complaints, though, with the 24-year-old out of control as he lunged at Cameron, epitomising the frustration that had come following Wells’ goal and Bamford’s penalty miss.

Leeds being Leeds, they’ve dominated possession on all their trips to London despite those defeats, averaging 67.4%, despite having 10-men on two of the four occasions.

Bielsa even watched his side have the majority share of possession when they took on Arsenal in the FA Cup (58.6%). Nevertheless, they were on the receiving end of a 1-0 scoreline after spurning numerous chances.

QUIZ: Can you name every Leeds United player’s shirt number?

So, one more trip to London for Leeds this season: Brentford.

Leeds head to Griffin Park for one final time before the Bees say goodbye to their famous little ground, with the fixture shaping up into a huge one.

Dropped points, and two defeats in the capital in the space of seven games, has left Leeds only four points clear of Fulham and five points ahead of Brentford.

The pair lead the chasing pack and smell blood as Leeds continue to falter, and, for Brentford, they have a chance to deal Bielsa’s automatic promotion hopes a potentially fatal blow on February 11^th.

Leeds will hope it isn’t another controversial decision being talked about after that meeting, with Bielsa left needing lady luck to be on his side to shake off this woeful record.