Namely, a truly woeful record in evening kick-offs and, perhaps more pertinently, a defence that has bordered on porous far too often this season.
Last night, both elements were in evidence as a pulsating Yorkshire derby ended with honours even as Leeds and Barnsley shared six goals.
That United were twice ahead despite playing the final 38 minutes with only 10 men following the dismissal of Bradley Johnson only added to the frustration of the home fans in the 26,289 crowd as their side failed to win under floodlights for an eighth time this term.
For Barnsley, however, justice was done as their all-round play deserved reward to take back down the M1 - especially as they were the victims of a truly shocking decision by referee Mark Clattenburg when awarding a first-half penalty to the hosts.
The game had started at breakneck speed, a tempo that rarely dipped for the rest of the evening. Barnsley were the first to strike, as United's tendency to switch off at the back returned with a vengeance.
Just 95 seconds had been played when Jason Shackell became the latest Championship player to take advantage by firing in from close range after Leeds had failed miserably to deal with Jacob Mellis's free-kick.
Considering the 5-2 thrashing handed out by the Reds when the two sides had met in September at Oakwell, the home fans in the crowd of 26,289 could have been forgiven for fearing the worst.
Instead, Leeds responded in admirable fashion by taking the game to Mark Robins's men.
First, Max Gradel was unfortunate to see Luke Steele acrobatically claw his flighted free-kick onto the crossbar. Such was the quality of the save, in fact, that it meant the Barnsley goalkeeper had earned the good fortune that saw the ball rebound against his head and bounce behind for a corner.
Buoyed to have gone so close, Leeds continued to press and Luciano Becchio should have done better than slice a shot wide after Robert Snodgrass had flicked Max Gradel's cross into his path.
It was a bad miss, though one the Argentinian atoned for on 23 minutes when heading in his 16th goal of the season to bring the scores level.
Becchio would be the first to admit the chance was created by an awful mistake by Steele, who completely misjudged the flight of Neil Kilkenny's cross.
But United's top scorer deserves credit for gambling and continuing his run even when the goalkeeper seemed set to claim what should have been a routine catch.
Fourteen minutes later, Leeds were in front and this time it was not the generosity of the Barnsley goalkeeper but that of referee Clattenberg that proved decisive.
Before the game, Reds manager Robins had told this newspaper how glad he was to have a Premier League official in charge at Elland Road. By half-time, he is unlikely to have felt the same following a quite dreadful decision from the referee in adjudging Matt Hill to have impeded Gradel, who converted the resulting penalty.
That advantage could have been extended further before the break as, first, Johnson had a close range shot blocked and then Snodgrass failed to pick out Jonny Howson with the visitors largely marooned upfield.
After the break, Barnsley quickly took advantage of the double let-off when Hill capitalised on Eric Lichaj being out of position to drill past Kasper Schmiechel.
The United goalkeeper then twice came to his side's rescue by saving bravely from Danny Haynes and then being in the right position to hold on to Shackell's drive.
In between, the visitors received another boost when Johnson saw red for his second booking of the night - both for fouls on Mellis - to leave Leeds a man down.
Despite that, it was Leeds who struck next when Gradel showed tremendous skill and poise to cut in and curl a shot beyond Steele with 20 minutes remaining.
The drama was far from over, though, with Barnsley again drawing level eight minutes from time when Kieran Trippier curled a free-kick beyond a static Schmeichel and into the net.
A pulsating finale followed but neither side could apply the finishing touch to leave United's record in eight Tuesday evening kick-offs in the Championship this season standing at four draws and four defeats.
It is a lamentable record, though nowhere near as damaging as the 52 goals Leeds have now conceded in 33 games - the fifth highest total in the division.
Leeds United: Schmeichel; Lichaj, O'Brien, Bruce, McCartney; Kilkenny, Johnson; Snodgrass (Watt 66), Howson, Gradel; Becchio (Somma 66). Substitutes (not used): Higgs, Paynter, Parker, Bromby, McCormack.
Barnsley: Steele; Hassell (Butterfield 73), McShane, Shackell, Hill; Trippier, Mellis (Gray 89), Doyle (O'Brien 46), Arismendi; Haynes, O'Connor. Substitutes (not used): Lovre, Preece, Nouble, Bennett.
Referee: M Clattenburg (County Durham).