Pierre-Michel Lasogga will be up against his Leeds United predecessor when The Whites meet Burnley in the EFL Cup.
Leeds United fans may be forced to wait to see their marquee summer signing in action. With Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s partner due to give birth this weekend, Burton Albion may not be the Hamburg loanee’s first opponents in English football.
However, by the time the EFL Cup third round tie with Burnley rolls around on September 19th, Lasogga may have two games, and hopefully the odd goal, under his belt.
Because Leeds have winnable Championship fixtures against Birmingham City and Millwall before they travel to Turf Moor and, with fellow new signing Caleb Ekuban out for two months with injury, Leeds will be hoping that Lasogga hits the ground running.
And there may not be a better game than Burnley away for the 25-year-old to prove his worth to his new employers. After all, he could be in direct competition with a certain Chris Wood at Turf Moor, the 2016/17 Championship Golden Boot winner who left Leeds supporters disappointed when he jumped ship for Burnley this summer.
Lasogga certainly has big shoes to fill, Wood scoring 27 goals last season to fire Leeds to their best league finish in a decade. However, the German hotshot has the potential to be not only a direct replacement but an improvement too.
Big shoes to fill
A tally of 13 Bundesliga goals in the last three seasons doesn’t exactly set the world alight but it must be remembered that Lasogga has spent a lot of time in the treatment table in recent years.
In fact, in his most recent fully-fit campaign, Lasogga fired 13 goals in 18 Bundesliga starts for a struggling Hamburg side to put himself in contention for a senior Germany call-up ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
Lasogga is a striker cut from the same cloth as Wood, powerful and physically imposing, but his ability to thump shots with both feet marks him out as a more unpredictable and volatile presence in attack.
He has the perfect opportunity in Burnley to prove that there’s life after Wood for Leeds.
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