Leeds United player who completed three dribbles in 13 minutes at PNE needs to start at Elland Road vs Oxford

Add as preferred source on Google

Leeds United’s clash with Oxford United on Saturday represents the first of five matches in just 15 days.

The Championship season is now coming right up to the festive period, and Daniel Farke needs to get his rotation policy right to ensure everyone remains fresh.

It would be fair to say Oxford begins a run of five winnable fixtures over Christmas and New Year, but with three of them being away, Leeds cannot afford to take anything for granted.

However, if there was going to be a game over this run where Farke was going to experiment a tad, it would be at home, and it would be against a side out-of-form like Oxford.

Oxford are set to appoint Gary Rowett as their new boss following the sacking of Des Buckingham, though it remains to be seen whether that will be done in time to play Leeds.

• READ MORE: Southampton want to replace sacked Russell Martin with ‘very talented’ former Leeds United man

Daniel Farke needs to start Manor Solomon for Leeds

Farke has opted for wide duo of both Dan James and Wilfried Gnonto in each of the last two matches, which looks like his first choice right now.

James’ recent form has certainly made him undroppable but Gnonto struggled at Preston North End, and was also a long way from his best at Blackburn Rovers a couple of weeks earlier.

As such, Farke really needs to consider making at least one change to those wide options for this one, and Manor Solomon is someone deserving of a start.

Solomon completed an impressive three dribbles in just 13 minutes after coming off the bench at PNE, while it was also his weaving run across the pitch that helped work the ball across for James to put in the delivery for Leeds’ equaliser.

Solomon is always at his most dangerous when on the left and having also mentioned this could be a game to experiment, it may also be worth trying to find a place for Largie Ramazani.

Brenden Aaronson was poor in the number 10 role at Deepdale and so in a game where Leeds will dominate the ball, having Ramazani in those central areas could be very dangerous.

Solomon, Ramazani and James as the three behind the striker really does have the potential to cause havoc for one of the worst defences in the Championship.

• READ MORE: Mikel Arteta wants to reunite Leeds United player with Ben White at Arsenal

Minutes for Leeds wingers since November break

Given the amount of work Leeds’ widemen get through, it is going to be important for Farke to keep them all fresh over the next three weeks, so they can keep performing at their best.

Here is a breakdown of how many minutes each of them have played since the November international break, which shows why it is important to get some match sharpness into the legs of Solomon and Ramazani this weekend.