Mateusz Klich put in another solid performance for Leeds United in central midfield as they pegged back West Brom to draw 1-1.

The Whites headed into the New Year top of the league and eager to continue in the same fashion with a result against the side sat just below them in second. Mateusz Klich continued his record of playing and starting in every single league game since the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa.

He started in midfield alongside Stuart Dallas as Pablo Hernandez recovers from another injury that looks set to keep him out for a month. 

The Polish international has had a quiet season by his high standards after hitting double figures for goals last season and registering nine assists. At present, Klich only has three goals and an assist this term, with two of those goals coming since the end of November.

Leeds faced West Brom knowing that they would struggle to dominate the game like they do in most others, as the Baggies had more possession than Bielsa’s men at Elland Road, the only team to do so this season.

Klich’s role this season has developed to a deeper one as he looks to provide more possession-based play in a similar role to Adam Forshaw in the Whites’ midfield.

With Leeds taking a hard-earned draw at the Hawthorns, we take a closer look at the numbers behind Klich’s showing for Leeds…

The Polish midfielder started and finished the game last night, playing a total of 97 minutes in central midfield.

It was a solid all-round performance from Klich who helped at both ends of the pitch for Marcelo Bielsa and had the task of nullifying any threat posed by one of the league’s top midfielders in Romaine Sawyers. With Leeds dominating possession on the night, it was clear that Klich did his job of stopping Sawyers getting any momentum going for the Baggies in the middle.

The Pole’s passing accuracy was at 78% for the game, with 60% of his long passes accurate. A solid return for a player tasked with a lot of the creative play in the final third, especially given the absence of Pablo Hernandez.

These percentages are just below his averages for the season at 81.7% in total and 61.7% for long passes, however, to keep it high in such a tough match is a testament to his ball retention abilities for Leeds.

Even more impressive was his defensive play, despite being perhaps fortunate not to give a penalty away in the first half, he achieved a percentage of 80% for his total defensive duels. The incident in question came from a throw-in when Klich appeared to throw Romaine Sawyers to the ground in the penalty area, before breaking away with the ball. It was a contentious decision that could be justified either way, but he can count himself lucky that the referee didn’t deem it worthy of a penalty.

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He also managed 14 ball recoveries for Leeds, highlighting how important he is to Bielsa’s system and pressing setup, turning the ball over all over the pitch, setting up very dangerous counter-attacks from the back and the front.

On the ball, he also managed a dribble success of 60%, which is very high for a player not blessed with significant pace or trickery.

Klich’s performance was not earth-shattering against West Brom but it just goes to show another example of how important he is to Bielsa’s formation, setup and strategy. His relentless pressing for 97 minutes and ability to find key passes is the reason why the Argentine continues to place his faith in him over the last 18 months.

This really was Klich at his best, at the end of a gruelling festive period.