Farke must now bench Leeds star who’s so “close to exploding”
da dobrowin： Leeds United are on a roll at the moment. Daniel Farke’s side have gone unbeaten in their last two games, beating Chelsea and drawing against Liverpool, with both games coming at Elland Road.
da betano casino： The game prior to playing the Blues, Manchester City only beat them due to a stoppage-time winner.
At the start of the gameweek, the Whites were out of the relegation zone. Now, a clash away to Brentford in the prime time slot on Sunday afternoon represents a chance for the West Yorkshire side to put even more distance between themselves and the drop zone.
Leeds will not have a full squad for their trip to West London to face the Bees, however.
Leeds’ team news vs. Brentford
Unfortunately for Farke, he has a few players missing for the game against Keith Andrews’ side. Someone who remains sidelined after picking up an injury in November is midfielder Sean Longstaff.
He is yet to recover from the calf injury he suffered against Aston Villa.
The Whites will also be without winger Daniel James. He suffered a long-term injury against Man City, with the hamstring tendon issue keeping him out for at least two months.
Leeds will be hoping to have him back sooner rather than later, but that layoff could be longer depending on whether he needs surgery.
The player who might have made it back for this game was Lukas Nmecha. However, Farke confirmed that the striker’s injury has “still not completely healed,” before going on to confirm that the German is “definitely out” against Brentford.
That is a huge blow for Leeds. Although he missed the game against Liverpool, Nmecha has been one of their most in-form players.
He’s bagged four goals in 14 Premier League games this season, a tally surpassed by no other Leeds player.
Despite these injuries in attack, there is a Leeds forward who Farke might well need to drop after a poor performance against Liverpool.
The Leeds star who Farke must axe
Despite managing such a brilliant result against Arne Slot’s side last weekend, there was one Leeds player in particular who struggled to make an impact.
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That was a rarity across the board, with Farke’s side generally impressing.
It was a really poor performance from Noah Okafor. The Swiss star was one of Leeds’ summer additions from AC Milan, but he has struggled to hit the ground running since moving to West Yorkshire.
25-year-old Okafor, who earns £72.5k per week at Elland Road and is one of the top earners, has only managed two goals for the club so far.
Those have come in 12 Premier League appearances, including the club’s 800th in the competition against Tottenham Hotspur.
Against Liverpool, Okafor put in a 5/10 performance and ‘didn’t add a huge amount’, according to Graham Smyth of The Yorkshire Evening Post.
He did struggle to get into the game, having just 14 touches, completing five out of six passes and losing the ball five times.
Okafor stats vs. Liverpool
Stat
Number
Touches
14
Passes completed
5/6
Number of times ball lost
5
Duels won
2/6
Shots
2
Expected goals
0.13xG
Stats from Sofascore
It was certainly a disappointing performance from the Swiss attacker, who showed great promise in the first few days of his Leeds career, with content creator Alex Moneypenny even suggesting that he is “so close to exploding”.
Perhaps playing as a number nine alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin is not how to get the best out of him.
If Farke is to drop Okafor this weekend against Brentford, there are options to replace him despite the injury issues.
Wilfried Gnonto is the most likely one, with the Italian getting back to full fitness after a fitness issue himself. Jack Harrison could also slot into the team, although he might not thrive as a number nine, or Farke could even bring teenager Harry Gray into the fold.
Regardless, Leeds will want to keep this impressive, and crucial, run of form going.
Thus, Okafor may be rotated out of the side after a poor showing last weekend, with Farke choosing someone who can have more of an overall impact.
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