Eddie Nketiah is in a rich vein of form since leaving Leeds United.
Things are going well for Leeds United at the moment…..again.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side are second in the Championship with 10 games left, one point behind West Brom at the summit and five ahead of Fulham in third.
Saturday’s 4-0 rout of Hull City was Leeds’ fourth win on the spin but despite their resurgence, it would take a brave man to put the mortgage on the Whites winning promotion.
That’s because things can go very wrong very quickly in the Championship, as fans of the Elland Road club saw last season.
They had an 11-point cushion in the top two at one point in December and it does make you wonder how much better Bielsa’s side would be doing had the Argentine rotated Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah a little more.
Arsenal recalled Nketiah from his season-long loan in January after only starting two league games during the first half of the campaign under Bielsa, who invariably selected Bamford in his first XI.
Thing is, Bamford, a £10 million signing in 2018 [BBC Sport], has only managed two goals in 2020 – both in the 3-2 win over Millwall – and with Jean-Kevin Augustin struggling for fitness, maybe Leeds would’ve been better with Nketiah.
The 20-year-old has scored three senior goals since returning to North London – including one against Everton in the Premier League – and Leeds supporters could justifiably wonder what if.
Augustin might be a fine striker but, as mentioned, a lot can happen in a short period of time in the Championship and the truth is that he’s barely played since arriving in January, meaning he is contributing very little at the moment.
Maybe, just maybe, United would be better off had Bielsa shown a bit more faith in Nketiah from August until January and less of it with Bamford.
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