Leeds United once again failed to take an opportunity to move to the top of the Championship table as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Sunderland on Tuesday night.

The Whites could have gone ahead of Leicester City, who were beaten 1-0 by Millwall on the night, but could not force the ball into the back of the net against the Black Cats.

They were not helped, however, by the referee missing a seemingly blatant handball from Luke O'Nien as the defender deflected a corner away from Joe Rodon's head with an outstretched arm.

Leeds cannot blame the referee for the rest of their performance, though, as they only created 0.56 xG worth of chances from a staggering 70% of the possession.

However, there were positives to come from the match and one was the performance of Junior Firpo at left-back, as the former Barcelona defender has now made himself undroppable for Daniel Farke with a series of fantastic displays.

Junior Firpo's Sunderland blinder

The left-footed whiz caught the eye with his excellent showing against the Black Cats at Elland Road, ending the game with a match-high Sofascore rating of 7.6.

He showcased his quality both in and out of possession, although his creativity was not on full display, throughout the game and must now retain his place whenever he is fit.

Sofascore rating

7.6

Duels won

11/18

Tackles

4

Interceptions

1

Clearances

1

As you can see in the table above, Firpo was dominant in his defensive duels, with 11 out of 18 won, as he rarely allowed the Sunderland players to get the better of him in physical contests.

The £30k-per-week dynamo also completed 100% (2/2) of his attempted dribbles to get out of danger when under pressure, in order to retain possession for Leeds.

He may, though, be disappointed to have ended the game with zero chances created for his teammates to break the deadlock on Wednesday night.

Junior Firpo's undroppable form

The Dominican Republic international was selected to be on the bench in the recent 2-2 draw with Watford after the international break, as Sam Byram started the game ahead of him at left-back.

Byram recorded a Sofascore rating of 7.1 and created one chance in his appearance on the left side of the defence, which was a solid outing from the former Norwich City man.

However, Firpo has since started the subsequent three Championship matches and earned Sofascore ratings of 7.7, 7.7, and 7.6 against Hull, Coventry, and Sunderland respectively.

In those three games, the impressive star provided four key passes – more than one per game – and created an eye-catching three 'big chances' for his teammates.

Byram, meanwhile, has only created one 'big chance' in 29 league matches for Leeds this season, which shows that he does not offer anywhere near as much creativity as Firpo.

The former Barcelona gem's fantastic creative work in recent games and his phenomenal defensive effort against Sunderland, in a blinder of a performance at left-back, is why he should now be undroppable for Farke when fit between now and the end of the season.