The debate among Leeds United fans often surrounds the players picked and the formation chosen by Daniel Farke, especially with a massive clash against Burnley on Saturday.
A battle between the two automatically promoted sides from the Championship takes place at Turf Moor on Saturday, with Leeds making the better start back in the Premier League and boasting eight points.
Farke has got to get his tactics absolutely spot on, and the likelihood is that Farke will pick the same side for a fifth consecutive game. But Willy Gnonto and Lucas Perri are expected to become available again.
Karl Darlow has come in and impressed in place of £15.6m signing Perri, while Brenden Aaronson has arguably produced his best form since joining the club in 2022. Chances are, Farke picks the same side.
Daniel Farke right to overlook a player Adam Pope rates at £20m
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is starting for Leeds. The former Everton man has only scored one goal and yet, Jermaine Beckford says Calvert-Lewin has been “unbelievable” for his work aside from scoring goals.
Other options include Lukas Nmecha and Joel Piroe, and Pope was asked if Farke was right not to start Piroe up top with Calvert-Lewin. He said Piroe is probably a £20m player, but questioned where he’d fit.
“It’s a 4-3-3. If you bring Piroe in, you don’t get what Calvert-Lewin offers, or Nmecha probably brings in terms of that robust centre-forward. If you drop him in behind, who are you losing? One in the midfield?
“Stach? Tanaka? Or are you taking a winger off? It doesn’t make sense in the geometry of the team that he starts. But, he was last season’s top scorer. How much would that cost to buy if they didn’t have him?
“£20m? A decent amount of money, they won’t want to lose that player. When they’re having to chase a game, like 3 at the back [against Spurs], there’s room. Unless there are injuries, I don’t see him starting.”
Should Leeds have considered selling Joel Piroe in the summer?
After the Carabao Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, Jon Newsome suggested Leeds should have looked at selling Piroe to boost the transfer kitty and be able to spend more cash during the summer.
But Piroe’s value is only going to go down as he warms the bench, and the Dutchman will enter the final 18 months of his contract in January. His value will have been decent in the summer transfer window.
From the deadline on, it will decrease. So, if Leeds are to sell Piroe now, the chances are they will struggle to achieve offers close to the fee they paid to sign him. Phil Hay said the total fee for Piroe was £16m.
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