{"id":882495,"date":"2026-01-02T02:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/02\/head-has-to-win-over-heart-leeds-boss-farke-defends-decision-to-bench-in-form-calvert-lewin\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T02:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:17:09","slug":"head-has-to-win-over-heart-leeds-boss-farke-defends-decision-to-bench-in-form-calvert-lewin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/02\/head-has-to-win-over-heart-leeds-boss-farke-defends-decision-to-bench-in-form-calvert-lewin\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00b4Head has to win over heart\u00b4 \u2013 Leeds boss Farke defends decision to bench in-form Calvert-Lewin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke defended his decision to drop the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin to the bench against Liverpool.<\/p>\n

Calvert-Lewin was named as a substitute during the goalless draw at Anfield, despite scoring seven goals in his last six Premier League appearances.<\/p>\n

The striker emerged from the bench in the 70th minute and thought he had snatched all three points for Leeds with a clever finish, only to be denied by the offside flag.<\/p>\n

Farke later said he made the decision in a bid to protect his number nine, as well as taking the opportunity to shuffle his pack during a busy period.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, the head has to win over the heart,\u201d the Leeds head coach said. \u201cWe had four Premier League fixtures in 10 days, and I have to trust my whole squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what happened to Dominic in the last few years with injuries. Overall, it was a sign of how much I trust the group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Massive point on the road! pic.twitter.com\/nHo02Yet65<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Leeds United (@LUFC) January 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the game, he added: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t come along that often that you get a clean sheet and a point at Anfield. We had to defend and suffer, but we are newly promoted and came to the defending champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a special atmosphere on New Year\u2019s Day, and you could feel that from the crowd, but we performed well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lads defended well and didn\u2019t allow clear-cut chances. It\u2019s always important to be rock-solid against the ball and keep a clean sheet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucas Perri became the first Leeds goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet against Liverpool in all competitions since Nigel Martyn (April 1999) and first at Anfield since John Lukic (April 1995).<\/p>\n

Defender James Justin concurred with Farke and said his team-mates and coaching staff were deserving of \u201ca pat on the back\u201d for their performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good battle and they\u2019re a great side,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019ve not been at their best this season, but you know what quality they have.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a good job collectively, so a pat on the back for us. There was a lot of emphasis going on a few days before the game, trying out different shapes with different players.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, today, we chose the right tactic and a pat on the back for the management staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>SoccerNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Leeds United boss Daniel Farke defended his decision to drop the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin to the bench against Liverpool. Calvert-Lewin was named as a substitute during the goalless draw at Anfield, despite scoring seven goals in his last six Premier League appearances. The striker emerged from the bench in the 70th minute and thought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":882496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120569,1523,2005],"tags":[7121,9212],"class_list":{"0":"post-882495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-head","8":"category-heart","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-head","11":"tag-heart"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}