Thomas Christiansen deserves plaudits after Leeds’ victory over Burton after notable selection decision

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Leeds United moved themselves up to second in the Championship with a 5-0 win over Burton Albion.

Since arriving at Leeds in the summer, Thomas Christiansen has seemed to get very little wrong, but one selection call he made before the Whites’ clash with Burton at the weekend appeared to leave a section of the supporters slightly concerned.

Gjanni Alioski has been excellent for Leeds this season – winning the man of the match award in the two Championship games before the international break – but the winger found himself on the bench for the game against the Brewers as Christiansen instead put Kemar Roofe back alongside Samuel Saiz and Pablo Hernandez.

Alioski had been away on international duty with Macedonia in the days before the Burton game, but the news that he was on the bench still attracted plenty of attention from the supporters when the team was announced.

While the decision did not attract criticism – given the travelling he had done with his national team – it appeared to be something of a gamble on Christiansen’s part to not put one of his best performers in, especially given Leeds’ record in games immediately after the international break.

But Christiansen’s selection decision could not have been vindicated any more as Roofe – who had started the previous game up front, and has not always shone out on the wing – enjoyed a stunning afternoon, contributing an assist and scoring a wonderful goal in the 5-0 rout.

And Leeds’ display was so good on Saturday that Alioski was not even needed as a substitute, meaning that he should be fresh for Tuesday’s clash against Birmingham, ready to rival Roofe, Hernandez – who was also brilliant in the victory – and Saiz.

The way the afternoon played out will certainly be extremely satisfying for Christiansen, as he would have known that leaving Alioski out would have led to plenty of conversation.

But the decision to keep Roofe in will go down as yet another masterstroke from the Leeds boss, especially if Alioski comes back in on Tuesday and makes a match-winning impact against Birmingham.