Leeds United travel up to Wearside this evening as they take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in their 21st Championship match of the season.
The Whites will be hoping that Ipswich Town slip up in their clash with Watford at Vicarage Road tonight as that could open the door for them to close the gap on the current top two.
Daniel Farke’s side are currently seven points adrift of the automatic promotion places, in third, despite winning six of their last seven league matches.
Championship table before matchday 21 | ||
|---|---|---|
Position | Team | Points |
1 | Leicester City | 49 |
2 | Ipswich Town | 48 |
3 | Leeds United | 41 |
4 | Southampton | 38 |
5 | West Bromwich Albion | 32 |
6 | Sunderland | 30 |
The Yorkshire-based outfit need to keep grinding out positive results and hope that is enough to claw their way into the top two eventually, in the hope that Ipswich and Leicester City go through a rough patch at some point in the campaign.
They are up against a managerless Sunderland, who relieved Tony Mowbray of his duties earlier this month, and the Black Cats come into the game off the back of a 2-1 win over West Brom.
Leeds, meanwhile, are coming into this after a 2-0 win away at Blackburn Rovers, thanks to goals from Dan James and Crysencio Summerville.
Latest Leeds injury news
Farke will be forced into at least one change from the starting XI that lined up at Ewood Park as Sam Byram will be unavailable for selection.
The summer signing from Norwich City on a free transfer came off against Blackburn during the second half with an injury and it has now been confirmed that he is set for a spell on the sidelines.
Byram suffered a hamstring strain and is due to be out of action for three weeks, which means that the versatile full-back will miss the majority of the festive schedule.
Including tonight, Leeds play six Championship matches up to the 1st of January, and the English defender, unless he returns sooner than expected, looks set to be out for all of those games.
Fellow full-back Jamie Shackleton is also out with a glute injury and the academy graduate will not be able to fill in for the former West Ham man.
Farke has confirmed that there have been illness issues within the squad and that Patrick Bamford has been hit with it, which has prevented him from training.
The German tactician did not completely rule out his involvement in the squad but it does cast a doubt over his availability, which could mean more first-team action for 20-year-old centre-forward Mateo Joseph, who came off the bench against Blackburn.
Another player who featured as a substitute at Ewood Park was on-loan defender Djed Spence and Farke must finally unleash the England U21 international to ease the blow of losing Byram, who has been a terrific performer so far this season.
Byram’s season in numbers
The experienced defender is a right-back by trade but Junior Firpo’s injury issues opened the door for him to cement his position as the manager’s first-choice option at left-back.
Byram, who only played 15 league games for Norwich during the 2022/23 campaign, has played 18 times and started 16 Championship matches for the Whites.
The 30-year-old ace has showcased his defensive qualities for Leeds with his ability to win possession back on a regular basis on full display.
He has averaged 3.3 tackles and interceptions – the most of any Leeds defender – and 4.7 ball recoveries per match, which shows that the right-footed battler is able to consistently cut out opposition attacks to prevent teams from causing more trouble for Illan Meslier.
However, Byram has not been an outstanding creator for the team. He has produced one assist and created one ‘big chance’ for his teammates in 18 league outings thus far.
That does not mean that the left-back has not offered anything in possession, though. In fact, he currently ranks within the top 15% of his positional Championship peers for progressive passes (5.43) per 90, which shows that the talented defender is forward-thinking on the ball.
Interestingly, Byram also ranks within the top 2% of his peers for touches in the opposition’s penalty area (3.27) per 90. This shows that the team are getting him into terrific positions but his end product has not been good enough to create chances on a regular basis.
Spence, on the other hand, is an attack-minded defender who could come in and make the most of those touches to cause havoc in the final third.
The statistics that show why Spence should start for Leeds
The 23-year-old whiz is yet to start a Championship match for Leeds since his move from Tottenham Hotspur over the summer, due to a knee injury that was suffered in September.
However, his form for Nottingham Forest during his last season at this level – in the 2021/22 campaign – suggests that he has the quality to be a superb replacement for Byram.
He is a right-back by trade and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be able to adapt to playing on the left but Farke’s options are limited and Spence has the potential to shine if he can translate his performances on the right to the other side.
The 23-year-old ace scored two goals, assisted four, and created six ‘big chances’ in 40 Championship starts for Forest as they won promotion to the Premier League.
Spence, who also made 2.9 tackles and interceptions per game, was hailed for his “combative” and “swashbuckling” style of play by Ian Wright on his Wrighty’s House podcast that season, after an impressive display against Arsenal in a 1-0 win in the FA Cup.
Statistic | Spence vs Arsenal in January 2022 (via Sofascore) |
|---|---|
Minutes played | 90 |
Sofascore rating | 7.7 |
Duels won | 12 |
Dribbles completed | Six |
Interceptions | Four |
The former Middlesbrough prospect, who did not start a single Premier League game for Spurs last term, ranked in the top 1% of Championship full-backs for progressive carries (4.35) per 90 to go along with his goals and assists.
These statistics suggest that the Tottenham loanee has the ability to drive Leeds up the pitch whilst he also has the quality to chip in with contributions in the final third.
Therefore, Farke must finally unleash the £25k-per-week dynamo from the start to ease the blow of losing Byram for the next three weeks.
