Okafor comes off the bench and Leeds beat Spurs 1-0 at Elland Road

John Brooks refereed a 12:30 UK kick-off in front of 36,924 at Elland Road. Daniel Farke picked a three-four-two-one: Trafford in goal, Justin, Elvedi and Muharemović across the back, a midfield line of Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka and Gudmundsson, and Longstaff and Nmecha behind Calvert-Lewin. Ampadu wore the armband. Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham Hotspur set up four-three-three, with Kinský behind Pedro Porro, van Hecke, van de Ven and Robertson, Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Gray in midfield, and Kudus, Omar Marmoush and Tel up front. Van de Ven was their captain.

Both sides had a player booked inside the first 22 minutes, van de Ven in the 15th and Longstaff in the 22nd. Tottenham had to make a change before the interval: Tel went off injured in the 43rd and Solanke took his place. The half ended 0-0.

Farke used the break to send on Bard for Gudmundsson. Pedro Porro was booked in the 51st minute, and in the 65th De Zerbi changed three at once: Bentancur for Mateus Fernandes, Gallagher for Porro and Kulusevski for Omar Marmoush. The Leeds manager waited until the 77th for his next move, Okafor on for Nmecha and Wilson for Tanaka. Okafor scored in the 79th and was booked in the 80th. Williams-Barnett replaced Kudus in the 83rd, Tonali was booked in the 88th, and Farke spent the last of his changes in the 93rd minute, Gruev for Longstaff and Rodon for Bogle.

The possession figure tells one story and nearly every other number tells the opposite one. Tottenham had 60.8 per cent of the ball and played 508 passes to 310, at 82.7 per cent accuracy against 79.4. They kept it the way a lodger keeps the front room: plenty of time in it, very little say over what happens there. Leeds took 16 shots to seven, had 21 touches in the opposition box to 18, sent in 29 crosses to 23 and won six corners to four. They won 59 duels to 43 and made 22 tackles to 15. Shots on target finished level at four each, and Leeds were credited with four saves to Tottenham's two. Expected goals came out at 2.02 to 0.77.

Before this game the Leeds form guide listed no win among its five entries: defeats by Bournemouth (our report) and Arsenal, and draws with Sunderland (report), Manchester United and Crystal Palace. Tottenham's guide listed wins over Crystal Palace (report), Chelsea (report) and Coventry City, a draw with Manchester United and a defeat by Aston Villa. Here the bench made the difference. Farke's two changes in the 77th minute were followed by the goal in the 79th; De Zerbi's three in the 65th were followed by no goal at all, and a side that dominated the ball left Elland Road with nothing to show for it.

Three meetings are listed here, all in the Premier League: Leeds United 1-4 Tottenham Hotspur on 28 May 2023, Leeds United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur on 4 October 2025 and Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Leeds United on 11 May 2026. That is two Tottenham wins and a draw, and no Leeds win among the listed meetings.

In the Premier League table as it stood at 14:26 on 7 November, with this match included, Leeds United were eighth on 14 points from 10 games, level on points with Brentford in seventh, who had played nine. Tottenham Hotspur were 10th on 12 points from 10, the same total as Bournemouth in ninth and Aston Villa in 11th, who had both played nine.