Leeds United face a tight turnaround to their next game against Hull City at Elland Road.
The Whites returned to action after the international break with a 2-2 draw at Watford last night, in a performance which certainly was not at the level seen previously.
Perhaps understandably, Leeds had a couple of tired looking bodies at Vicarage Road and Daniel Farke may well consider making a couple of changes in order to freshen it up against the Tigers.
One of those certainly has to come at the back. Liam Cooper was brought in for the first time since New Year’s Day on Friday, but all that did was show exactly why Joe Rodon’s partnership with Ethan Ampadu should not be broken up.
Ilia Gruev also has a chance of being fit for Monday and if he is, he simply has to start in that holding midfield position. Sam Byram would probably be the one to drop out.
BBC pundit says Farke might want to drop £7m Leeds player now
It would not be a surprise if those were the only alterations Farke made to his starting line-up at Elland Road, but there is certainly a wildcard change he could look to make.
Leeds’ substitutes were what ensured they did not return to West Yorkshire empty handed, particularly in the case of Junior Firpo and Mateo Joseph.
Joseph actually scored Leeds’ equaliser on the night with his first ever league goal for the club. It is a moment that has certainly been coming, with his cameos continuing to get better and better.
£7m man Patrick Bamford is undoubtedly Leeds’ first choice number nine at the moment but Joseph really is banging on the door to be handed a full league debut.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds post-match, pundit thinks Farke now has a decision to make over whether to hand Joseph a run in the team over Bamford.
He said: “Not his [Bamford’s] best evening but he wasn’t on his own was he? It’s difficult when you are an attacking player, not everything is going to come off every game. Second half I thought he worked hard and made a number of runs I could see from up here where the ball wasn’t played to him.
“But you can’t hide from the fact that boy who’s out there doing box to boxes Mateo Joseph comes on and scores the equaliser. He’s full of confidence. Don’t get me wrong, Patrick has been great and scored some really good goals and led the line really well, but maybe Joseph does deserve a run in the team.”
Joseph enjoys dream week for Spain and Leeds
On a personal level it has been a dream week for Joseph, with this international break the first time he was able to represent Spain U21s after switching allegiance from England.
In his first competitive appearance for the young Spaniards, Joseph was also used as a late substitute against Belgium with the score at 0-0. It took him just five minutes to score the winner.
And it took even less time for him to net Leeds’ equaliser at Vicarage Road, and it is clear he is playing with so much confidence right now.
There isn’t really much more he can do to try and convince Farke that he is deserving of being handed his full Leeds debut.
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