Leeds United star told he is ‘second to none’ in the Championship, better than £12.5m Elland Road teammate

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Leeds United are eyeing a return to winning ways this weekend when Derby County come to Elland Road for the first time in four years, and Daniel Farke has been speaking ahead of the clash.

Following Saturday’s defeat to Blackburn at Ewood Park, Leeds currently sit in third place. A point behind Burnley in second and three off leaders Sheffield United, after Burnley and the Blades won last time out.

Leeds though, remain in a solid position for an assault on the top two. They are on the same points as last season after 18 having won, drawn and lost the same amount – while also scoring 31 goals at this point.

A win against Derby will see Leeds secure a fourth win from five and set themselves up nicely ahead of a difficult clash against Middlesbrough in the week. Daniel Farke though, could be without a key player.

• READ MORE: Farke on whether Leeds could actually be busy in January after left-back issues

Junior Firpo earns huge praise from Leeds boss Daniel Farke

Firpo has been excellent once again this season, despite having already missed four games suspended. On Saturday, Leeds could actually be without Firpo with the left-back picking up a knock in training.

Max Wober is in line to start his first league game in 18 months for Leeds, given Sam Byram is also injured and Isaac Schmidt is only just back after a hernia operation. But Farke outlined how Firpo will be a loss.

That is, if Firpo is unable to play: “Of course, he [Wober] isn’t on the level of Junior Firpo because he’s second to none in this league. To our approach opening a deep-sitting opponent, we need this quality.”

Junior Firpo and Max Wober’s attacking stats compared

With £12.5m-rated Wober possibly set to start for Leeds in the League for the first time since the final day of the 2022-23 season, a 4-1 loss to Tottenham, Leeds will lose a big attacking component of Farke’s side.

But is it really that big a loss? While Firpo has 35 goal involvements at club level, Wober has 32 himself and has scored more goals while playing the majority of his career as a central defender, not full-back.

So, there is still a goal threat in Wober and it certainly increases Leeds’ chances of scoring from set-pieces. Whether Farke opts to start Wober, Schmidt or Firpo not at 100% remains to be seen ahead of Saturday.