Leeds United’s draw against Norwich City on Tuesday night was a decent result for The Whites considering the growing injury list emerging at Elland Road.
Max Wober underwent knee surgery on Tuesday and has been joined on the sidelines for the last few games by Manor Solomon and Dan James. Before the game, two more Leeds players were ruled out.
Isaac Schmidt with a glute injury and of course, captain Ethan Ampadu is set to be out of action until the new year. Ilia Gruev joined that list inside the first 20 minutes during Tuesday’s clash at Carrow Road.
It means that going into Friday night’s clash against Sunderland, six first-team players are sidelined while young defender Diogo Monteiro has undergone shoulder surgery. Leeds then, are an injury-hit side.
But where there is one player’s downfall, there is a chance for another and on-loan star Joe Rothwell came off the bench at Carrow Road, producing his first meaningful performance in the Championship.
Joe Rothwell hints at frustration over lack of Leeds game time
Joining Leeds on loan from Bournemouth in the summer, 29-year-old Rothwell has actually featured in all eight of Leeds’ Championship matches and started the Carabao Cup defeat to Middlesbrough in August.
But, he had not surpassed 25 minutes in any of his previous seven outings. However, on Tuesday, he got 70 minutes of football under his belt as he replaced on Ilia Gruev and after that, he posted on Instagram.
Rothwell hinted at a bit of frustration with his caption: “Nice to finally get some consistent minutes, good point on the road, hopefully builds some positive momentum going into another tough game on Friday.”
Rothwell set to start on Friday but how should Farke line-up?
Sunderland are one of the most in-form sides in the Championship at the moment, so going to Regis Le Bris’ side on Friday night will be a tough test. Especially, after Sunderland beat Derby 2-0 on Tuesday.
Rothwell stats from draw against Norwich:
- Rating of 6.84 (WhoScored, fourth best behind Gnonto, Ramazani and Tanaka)
- 67 touches, 1 key pass
- Two shots, one on target
- Two tackles, one interception
- 47/53 passes successful, six crosses
Farke has a few options even with Ampadu and possibly Gruev missing. But it might mean a reshuffle and possibly, a change in formation. A 4-3-3 system could see Rothwell and Brenden Aaronson play as no.8’s.
Charlie Crew is a Wales international, but the teenager is yet to make his debut. So there are options for the Leeds manager but they are limited. It is likely that Tanaka and Rothwell play in midfield, on Friday.
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