Leeds United were hammered 4-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night.
Thomas Christiansen, manager of Leeds United
Leeds United boss Thomas Christiansen has told the club’s official website that he substituted Samu Saiz against Wolverhampton Wanderers in order to save him for the weekend game against Barnsley.
The Whites travelled to Molineux on Tuesday night to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers, with renewed confidence after a 2-1 home win over Middlesbrough on Sunday afternoon.
However, Christiansen’s men came unravelled at Molineux, as Barry Douglas’ free kick and a powerful finish from Ivan Cavaleiro handed Wolves a 2-0 first-half lead.
Samu Saiz of Leeds United
Ezgjan Alioski pulled one back from Samu Saiz’s superb pass, but Diogo Jota made it 3-1 after Ronaldo Vieira’s red card, and a late Helder Costa penalty rounded off the scoring to give Wolves a 4-1 win.
When Vieira was sent off with half an hour still to play, Leeds were facing an uphill battle to get back into the game, and manager Christiansen took off his best player – midfielder Saiz – shortly after Jota made it 3-1.
Thomas Christiansen
After the game, Christiansen was asked just why he brought Saiz off, and the Leeds boss revealed to the club’s official website that he felt the game was gone from Leeds, so he gave Saiz a rest in order to preserve him for this weekend’s derby against Barnsley.
“With the score 4-1, it was very difficult and impossible to change the result,” said Christiansen. “We were playing with one less, so it was to give him some rest because we have an important game now on Saturday,” he added.
With eight goals and four assists in all competitions this season, Saiz has been Leeds’ star performer since his summer move from Huesca, but Christiansen clearly felt that Leeds had already lost – and he will be hoping his decision pays dividends when Leeds face Barnsley.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
