Leeds face Garry Monk’s Birmingham on Saturday afternoon at Elland Road.
Marcelo Bielsa is unlikely to risk his crocked Leeds United stars against Garry Monk’s Birmingham City as the table toppers await the return of a handful of first-team players from the treatment room.
Patrick Bamford remains a long-term absentee after suffering a posterior cruciate ligament injury to his knee. He will be on the sidelines until the new year, in what is a disappointing blow after his big-money move from Middlesbrough.
In-form attacker Kemar Roofe also remains out, as does Jamie Shackleton, Izzy Brown, Gaetano Berardi and mercurial playmaker Pablo Hernandez. Despite this, Leeds remain unbeaten and at the top of the Championship.
Indeed, Bielsa has got Leeds playing a brand of football that is difficult to match in England’s second tier, as he looks to deliver promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since the club was relegated in 2004.
Following an excellent 3-0 win over Preston at Elland Road on Tuesday night, Leeds are expected to name an unchanged side despite a couple of questionable performances against Alex Neil’s side.
Tyler Roberts scored his first Leeds goals while Samu Saiz, Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper, Pontus Jansson and Jack Harrison all shone. But Gjanni Alioski’s inconsistency was once again a feature, while Mateusz Klich was wasteful.
Alioski, 26, was hardly involved compared to other winger Harrison against Preston, while Klich should have scored a brace after being put through on goal twice. Stuart Dallas and Lewis Baker would be obvious replacements.
But here, we think Bielsa will name an unchanged line-up unless any of his injured stars make a miraculous comeback.
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