Leeds United recorded their fourth Premier League clean sheet of the season during Saturday's 1-0 win against Tottenham. Noah Okafor was the match-winner with a 79th-minute strike, as the Whites ended their five-game winless run and moved up to eighth in the Premier League table.

As well as recording a much-needed win for Daniel Farke, Leeds continued their excellent start to the campaign from a defensive point-of-view. Indeed, the Whites have conceded just eight goals from their opening 10 top-flight matches, the third-best record in the division behind Arsenal (5) and Brighton (7).

Apart from the 6-3 defeat at Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, Leeds haven't conceded more than two in a single game across all competitions this season. This is despite facing Arsenal, Brighton, Manchester United and Tottenham among others, with the Whites building a real strong foundation at the back.

A major factor behind Leeds' impressive defensive record is the fact the Whites have James Trafford in goal. The England international joined Farke's side from Manchester City in a £40million deal in the summer, and he has been excellent since his move to Elland Road.

After making a mistake leading to Bournemouth's opening goal in the 2-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium last Saturday, Trafford was back to his best against Tottenham.

The 24-year-old won the Player of the Match after making four saves - including three inside the box - nine recoveries, four defensive contributions and recording 1.6 goals prevented.

His standout save came in stoppage-time when Jan Paul van Hecke met Andy Robertson's cross with a glancing header, but Trafford produced an outstanding diving stop to deny him.

It was his 37th save of the Premier League season, the second-most behind Hull City's Kostantinos Tzolakis (41), and one in front of Newcastle United's Lukas Hornicek (36).

Trafford is Leeds' most important player

While there is a case for Ethan Ampadu, Tarik Muharemovic and even Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Trafford has become Leeds' most important player, there is no doubt about that.

For years, it felt as though the Whites were an elite goalkeeper from having a complete side.

Lucas Perri came in back in 2025 with a view to becoming the club's new No.1, but ended the season as second-choice behind Karl Darlow, who had helped the Whites win promotion back to the Premier League with Illan Meslier dropping down the pecking order.

Darlow moved on to join Manchester United, Meslier signed for Arsenal, and Perri made the switch to Torino on loan as Leeds had a complete revamp of their goalkeeping department in the summer.

Trafford, meanwhile, arrived from City as first-choice and has now appeared to have solved Leeds' long-term goalkeeper issues. He has settled into life at Elland Road and Farke does not need to worry about switching his No.1 throughout the season, as he has often done in the past.

That is the sole reason why Trafford is Leeds' most important player. If he was to miss out for whatever reason, Michael Zetterer would have to come in - and Leeds wouldn't be nowhere near as strong as proven by the club's goalkeeper issues in recent years.

Yes, you could make a case for Ampadu and Calvert-Lewin based on that metric, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as big as if Trafford was to miss out.

The drop from Trafford to Zetterer is much bigger than Ampadu to Ilia Gruev, Anton Stach or Sean Longstaff, for example. The same can be said from Calvert-Lewin to Lukas Nmecha.