Leeds United will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways this afternoon as they take on Coventry City in the Championship at Elland Road.
The Whites were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland on Tuesday night, which was their first defeat since October, and they now come up against the 14th best side in the division as it stands.
Daniel Farke’s team are third and ten points adrift of the automatic promotion places heading into today’s clash as they look to put pressure on the current top two.
Ahead of the match, the German tactician confirmed that he will have the same squad to select from that he had against the Black Cats.
With this in mind, Farke must finally unleash Mateo Joseph from the start in place of Joel Piroe to partner Georgino Rutter at the top end of the pitch.
Joel Piroe’s performance against Sunderland in numbers
The former Swansea centre-forward lined up in the number ten position and failed to impose himself on the game throughout his 90 minutes on the pitch.
Piroe only had 28 touches of the ball, despite playing the full match, and that was the second-fewest of any of the Leeds starters – only Dan James (21) had fewer and the Wales international only played 75 minutes.
With those touches, the Dutch marksman did not create a single chance for his teammates and, of course, did not find the back of the net as the Whites lost 1-0.
The 24-year-old finisher has started all 21 Championship matches for Swansea and Leeds combined this season and his lacklustre display on Tuesday was, perhaps, a sign that fatigue is setting in.
Therefore, this clash with Coventry could be the right time for him to be rested, which would then open the door for Joseph to walk into the team.
The statistics that show why Joseph should be unleashed
The 20-year-old ace has come off the bench in the last two matches – his first league appearances of the season – and Farke must finally unleash him for his first start.
Joseph has yet to burst onto the scene for the first-team but his sublime form for the club’s U21 side since the start of the 2022/23 campaign suggests that the potential is there for him to do just that.
The England U20 international has plundered 17 goals and three assists in 23 Premier League 2 regular season and play-off matches over the last 18 months or so.
This means that the 5 foot 11 prospect, who was once hailed as “fantastic” and a “threat” for opposition defences by ex-boss Michael Skubala, averaged a goal every 1.35 games at that level and has the scope to be a terrific scorer for Leeds if he can translate that to the first-team.
Now just imagine what he could do alongside a player who can create chances for him at an impressive rate, which is exactly what Rutter can do.
The French wizard currently ranks among the top 1% of Championship forwards this season for Expected Assisted Goals (0.41), assists (0.44), and shot-creating actions (4.30) per 90.
Rutter, who has created 16 ‘big chances’ in 19 league starts, has the quality to split open defences with sublime regularity and is one of the best, if not the best, in the division – as shown by the aforementioned statistics – in that respect.
He could, therefore, be a fantastic player for Joseph to make his first Championship start of the season alongside as the 21-year-old talent could provide the youngster with the service he needs in front of goal.
