Leeds United vs Tottenham Hotspur: Winner Gets Archie Gray
Elland Road awaits tomorrow as an out-of-sorts Leeds United welcome something of a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur. Not exactly the most encouraging combination, particularly when you consider that the game is in the dreaded 12:30 kick-off slot on TNT Sports. As if watching Leeds struggle to remember how to attack wasn’t punishment enough, I’m going to have to endure Darren Fletcher constantly sucking up to his new best mate “Coisty” for 90 minutes, or the potential threat of being subjected to analysis by Joe “I Can’t String A Sentence Together” Cole. Worst of all, it’s an early game, which means you can already mark this down as a Leeds United loss.
The Whites have been stumbling of late, and the backlash towards Daniel Farke is growing increasingly loud online. However, I don’t expect that frustration to translate to the stands at Elland Road tomorrow. Leeds were excellent for the opening 20 minutes against Bournemouth, producing a wonderful team goal that was subsequently ruled out for handball. If we can start on the front foot against Tottenham, I still believe there are vulnerabilities in this Spurs side, particularly if we can get the crowd behind us and put them under pressure early on.
Farke was keen to point out that Leeds lack individual quality in the final third following the Bournemouth defeat – something I’m sure our attacking players thoroughly enjoyed hearing. And whilst there may be some truth to his assessment, it doesn’t excuse the increasingly toothless performances we’ve been subjected to. Something needs to change, and quickly, because we simply aren’t offering enough of an attacking threat. Failing that, we might have to start sneaking a few arrows of our own into Elland Road.
Leeds United vs Tottenham Hotspur Team News
It’s not looking particularly encouraging on the injury front, with both Anton Stach and Noah Okafor major doubts for tomorrow’s game. Okafor has been poor since the international break, but it increasingly feels as though Leeds struggle to create anything without him in the side. I’d expect Dan James and Harry Wilson to start either side of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, although I’m hoping we get to see a little more of Bahoya this week. Farke was keen to play down the hype surrounding the youngster ahead of Bournemouth, presumably to take some of the pressure off his shoulders. Fair enough. But as someone who was already a huge admirer of Bahoya before he arrived at Leeds, I’m finding it difficult to be patient. There is at least some welcome news defensively, with Joe Rodon back in full training. I wouldn’t expect him to start tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to seeing him return to the side. Aside from his defensive qualities, I do think we’ve missed his presence at set-pieces. Without Rodon and Bijol in the team, we seem to have lost some of the aerial threat that made us so dangerous from dead-ball situations.
As for Spurs, Wilson Odobert, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Xavi Simons all remain out. Savio is believed to have returned to training this week and it remains to be seen whether the winger will be fit to return to the matchday squad, while Lucas Bergvall and Tosin Adarabioyo are both minor doubts. Pedro Porro and Archie Gray will be competing for the starting role at right-back.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Trafford; Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic; Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson; Wilson, James; Calvert-Lewin
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Kinsky; Porro, Van Hecke, Van de Ven, Robertson; Fernandes, Tonali; Kudus, Maddison, Tel, Marmoush
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