Arsenal loanee Eddie Nketiah was unable to rescue Leeds
Leeds United called on Eddie Nketiah from the bench against Millwall as they chased a comeback.
The Arsenal loanee has had a bright start, but can’t quite nail down a regular starting spot.
On Saturday against Millwall he was brought on in the 61st minute with Leeds 2-1 down.
Having trailed 2-0 at half-time, the Whites netted early in the second half to give hope of a comeback.
Nketiah coming on was supposed to seal the deal, but concerningly, Leeds could not get him into the game.
Minimal impact
This was one occasion where Leeds could not manage to give Nketiah the chances he required.
He touched the ball just 13 times in 30 minutes.
He did not have any shots at goal, or create any chances. It was all quite low key.
Leeds were down to 10 men, but they dominated possession with 68 per cent.
Nketiah just wasn’t able to find the space he needed.
Marcelo Bielsa must take some blame, having taken off creative player Helder Costa at half-time.
Costa has linked up well with Nketiah this season and the Arsenal loanee might have benefited had the Portuguese international still been on the pitch.
The problems were not confined to Nketiah.
Patrick Bamford was on the pitch for 61 minutes and managed just 20 touches and no shots. By that context Nketiah did little to improve them, but he didn’t make them worse either.
It was always going to be tough to play them both together, with 10 men, but perhaps Leeds should have taken the risk, having been behind anyway.
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