Kudus ace, Stach v Longstaff + time to sell Richarlison?

Tottenham Hotspur preserved their unbeaten away record with a 2-1 win at Elland Road on Saturday, in doing so ending Leeds United’s year-long undefeated run at home.

Here’s what we saw.

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XAVI BETTER BUT STILL IN KUDUS’ SHADE

After much clamour from the Spurs support, Xavi Simons (£7.1m) got to play in his favoured ’10’ role on Saturday.

This was better from the Dutchman, who produced little glimpses of his talent: one scooped pass into the box for an onrushing Pedro Porro (£5.6m) was a highlight. Thomas Frank even called it Xavi’s “best game” for Spurs to date; just don’t mention the rabona…

Really, though, if you weren’t to know the transfer fees or reputations of Spurs’ front four on Saturday, you wouldn’t say that Xavi was head and shoulders above the others. Mathys Tel (£6.3m) and Wilson Odobert (£5.3m) were as good, maybe better, while Mohammed Kudus (£6.7m) was the stand-out.

Going inside and outside of Gabriel Gudmundsson (£4.0m), Kudus was electric down the right. We know about the assist potential: he delivered his fifth of 2025/26 on Saturday, setting Tel away for a deflected opener.

But we’ve seen more goal threat in the last two Gameweeks, too, with big chances missed against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United before he struck a winner, again deflected, on Saturday.

Above: Only two players have registered more attacking returns (ARtn) than Mohammed Kudus this season

Frank called him, and few would argue, Spurs’ “best offensive player” of the season so far.

“So happy for Mo, he needed that goal. He’s been good for us, I would say our best offensive player so far, but to get the winner and a goal – very good. And Xavi Simons again, I think that was his best game. Still more to come but I think he really found some good pockets and then had some very good offensive actions.” – Thomas Frank

TIME TO SELL RICHARLISON?

Tel’s all-round decent performance, from the off-the-ball harrying to the on-the-ball threat (he hit the bar as well as scored), doesn’t spell good news for Richarlison (£6.8m).

The Brazilian was a substitute on Saturday, just as he had been after the September international break. So, despite the absences of Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) and Randal Kolo Muani (£6.9m), probably initially seen as his two biggest game-time threats, he still isn’t secure for minutes. With Kolo Muani likely back immediately after the October break, and Solanke maybe not far behind him, Richarlison’s game-time looks even more questionable.

He’s in the Brazil camp for the forthcoming internationals, too, while there’s a Champions League tie to come after Gameweek 8 – and remember, Tel isn’t in the Lilywhites’ European squad, so his only minutes are going to come domestically.

“I think the biggest praise goes to Mathys’ mentality and character. I’m repeating myself a little bit with those two words because to not be as an established player, coming in, trying to get into the team, getting a major setback by not being selected for the Champions League squad, which was a massive blow, of course… the way he handled that, it’s been super impressive. How he just trained well, the way he carries himself every day and I’m glad, you know. He’s a very good example of a player that is developing.

“So, I said it from the beginning, I think he can play striker. I think against West Ham, for example, he played quite well, things to improve. Doncaster, even better, arriving in the good situations and now, I think, he took the next step, arriving in good situations and got a goal. I’m so pleased on his behalf.” – Thomas Frank on Mathys Tel

PORRO ASSIST + DEFCON

Out of almost nowhere, Pedro Porro delivered an assist and defensive contribution (DefCon) points on Saturday.

His assist was jammy – an overhit pass that still found its way to Kudus after hitting Gudmundsson – and he only just scraped the DefCon.

Above: The four players to bag DefCon point at Elland Road

He’d actually had a bit of a poor game both on and off the ball, not that his FPL owners will care all that much.

It should be said that he’s not had a shot in four Gameweeks. And, since Simons has joined, he’s not taken nearly as many corners – the six he delivered in Gameweek 5 came in a game in which the Dutchman had been benched.

With the DefCon potential not great (he’s only averaging 7.3 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBIT) per start), there still has to be some questions about his value despite Saturday’s seven-point return.

POSITIVES FOR LEEDS + LONGSTAFF>STACH?

“Just compliments to the way we have played today [against] a side who has just played on Champions League level. They are in the same Champions League positions at the moment. One of the top sides and we’re the better side today in all aspects. We dominated possession, had more shots, more shots on target, more chances, more expected goals, more corners. In all aspects, we have dominated this game and should have [won]. Even with the draw, we would have been disappointed after such a performance and so many chances”. – Daniel Farke

While Daniel Farke had a partisan view on the game, you couldn’t really argue that Leeds didn’t deserve something.

Both of Spurs’ strikes were deflected, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m) wasted a couple of good chances, Joe Rodon (£4.0m) hit the woodwork from a free-kick and Joel Piroe (£5.2m) forced an excellent save late on. Parity was briefly restored by Noah Okafor (£5.5m), who poked in a rebound, but even discounting that high-xG tap-in, Leeds still had the edge on expected goals.

One question is going to keep repeating itself all season: do Leeds have the firepower up top to turn competitive performances into results?

Further back, in midfield, it’s worth pointing out a bit of a changing of the guard in recent weeks.

Anton Stach (£5.0m) looked like being a great budget all-rounder in the opening month but he’s since lost set-piece duties to Sean Longstaff (£4.9m), who also happens to be outperforming him on the DefCon/DC and shooting front.

Here are their stats over the last two Gameweeks (small sample alert):

Is Longstaff a potential FPL bargain, then? There’ll always be the worry that Ao Tanaka (£4.9m) works his way back into Farke’s plans at some point, but you’d have to say the Japanese international is a bit lightweight and maybe better served coming off the bench at present.

Either way, Stach’s appeal definitely has taken a dent.

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