Is the Leeds United striker going to endure a spectacular dip in form?
With eight Championship goals, Chris Wood is spearheading Leeds United’s promotion bid so far this season.
The 24-year-old struck his 11th of the season in all competitions on Saturday as Leeds beat Norwich City 3-2 to move into the playoff places.
He is certainly in a rich vein of form but, with the halfway point of the season getting that bit closer, there’s something manager Garry Monk needs to know about the striker.
As prolific as he has been, history suggests that the New Zealand hitman could suffer a horrendous dip in form during the second half of the season.
Wood joined Leicester City in January 2013 and despite a fine start to life at the King Power Stadium, which included seven goals in his first four games, the well dried up.
He started 17 Championship matches from February onwards in a run of games which yielded only four goals and if history repeats itself at Leeds early in 2017 then the fans can forget about Premier League football next season.
Of course, Wood, who was only 21 at the time of that barren spell, is a more seasoned centre-forward these days, but he is prone to disappearing acts for lengthy periods and deep down Leeds fans might be fearing another one.
Consequently, Monk badly needs a top-class alternative in January in the event that Wood does go off the boil – Marcus Antonsson and Souleymane Doukara won’t do.
Their promotion bid could hinge on it.
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