THREAD: There was a number of brilliant performances by Leeds United players yesterday but for me Pascal Struijk really stood out for a number of reasons. #LUFC

To start off with, it was his first Premier League appearance having only played a handful of games in the Championship, up against last season's Champions and one of the best teams in Europe. Also his first start at centre back, with the other appearances coming in midfield.

Despite Leeds conceding 4 goals, defensively Struijk was really good. He made more clearances than any other player (11), the joint most interceptions (3) and won all off his ground duels (4).

Stats via SofaScore and StatsZone

Often up against Firmino or Salah when he was the "spare" man, Struijk defended the box well. The example below shows this, making a crucial interception to deny a goalscoring opportunity for Liverpool.

Liverpool's front three are all excellent dribbles and cause opposition defenders a lot of problems. He was aggressive but patience when defending, forcing Liverpools front three backwards. This is shown in the example below, touch tight to Salah, who plays it backwards.

What impressed me the most was his composure on the ball. In what was a frantic game, he kept calm and used the ball really well. Even when under pressure, he was able to play out from defence accurately, as seen below.

He completed 52/59 passes, the most of any player on the pitch with the highest success rate. He also hit a few impressive long balls to set put Leeds on the front foot and into dangerous positions.

As someone who has watched Struijk a lot, it didn't come as a surprise to me to see him play so well. Since joining the club he's been a consistent performer for the under 23's and comes from a good footballing background having previously been at Ajax, which shows in his game.

Having played so well in defensive midfield and now at centre back, I fully expect to see more of Struijk this season and he's only going to get better the more he plays.

Aiming for 10k followers by the end of the year, its a long shot so any retweets and follows if you aren't already would be great! #LUFC