Leeds United 0, Aston Villa 0; Richard Sutcliffe at Elland Road.

A goalless draw between the two sides with the meanest defensive records in the Premiership was probably the most predictable result of the weekend.

Both Leeds United and Aston Villa have been the favourite teams of Fantasy League players everywhere by conceding just one goal apiece in their opening six games this season.

However, as impressive as those records are, this goalless draw was achieved despite both defences, not because of them.

At times the defending was well below par ,and it was only poor finishing which made this United's third 0-0 of the season.

Leeds struck the woodwork twice in the same attack, while Villa had two clear opportunities to steal the points in the final ten minutes.

Don't get me wrong, there were some excellent individual performances in both de-fences, with Leeds' Lucas Radebe again showing why he is rated as one of the best in the Premiership.

Villa's Gareth Barry also belied his tender age with one of the most composed defensive performances I have seen from a 17-year-old, and he appears set for a huge future.

However, despite these great individual efforts, Leeds and Villa were carved open even though both sides showed only fleeting glimpses of their attacking potential.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was lively for Leeds and came within a whisker of opening the scoring with an eighth-minute header which somehow flew past Mark Bosnich's right-hand post.

Lee Bowyer also impressed with his non-stop running in midfield, and he was unlucky to see his header crash against the woodwork after Harry Kewell's thunderous shot had suffered a similar fate just before half-time.

Radebe, Bowyer and Hasselbaink apart though, Leeds were disappointing, although Ian Harte went close with a fierce second half shot.

Villa, meanwhile, also managed to carve a faltering Leeds back four open with Julian Joachim and Gareth Southgate missing the best opportunities.

A draw was probably a fair result, al-though Leeds boss George Graham said: "I am sure John (Gregory) is more pleased with one point than I am."

Graham's Villa counterpart Gregory added: "I don't know how happy he (Graham) is about getting a point. The way the game went we didn't deserve more than a point, but we could have pinched it in the last couple of minutes and then he would have been even unhappier!"

Man of the Match: Lucas Radebe (Leeds United).

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.