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William Jackson

Leeds United individuals pass defensive test as Whites look to improve sum of their parts

Leeds United duo Liam Cooper and Max Wober provided a reminder of their abilities on Saturday while on international duty. The last couple of months have been challenging for Cooper and Wober as neither man could prevent Leeds from slipping out of the Premier League after three straight years in the top flight.

Relegation will have been difficult to comprehend for both players, particularly as the Whites managed to give up their Premier League status in such a lacklustre manner. However, before the pair can turn their attentions to the Championship and the start of pre-season next month, they have linked up with their respective national teams.

Cooper is with the Scotland squad, while Wober is with Austria and both have been in Euro 2024 qualifying action this weekend. Scotland managed to pull off a late comeback against Norway to claim a 2-1 in Oslo, with Liam Cooper stepping off the bench after 65 minutes to help them turn things around.

Scotland had fallen behind through an Erling Haaland penalty, but Cooper contributed to keeping the Manchester City treble-winner goalless for the remainder of the game. That’s no mean feat given Haaland scored 52 goals at club level this season and the result gave Scotland’s early hopes of qualifying for next summer’s tournament in Germany a huge boost as they now sit five points clear at the top of their group.

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Wober started for Austria against Belgium in Brussels and he played his part as Ralf Rangnick’s side managed to contain the threat of Romelu Lukaku and Yannick Carrasco in the first half of the contest. The Leeds man was replaced at the break as Austria went on to claim a fine point against Belgium, drawing 1-1.

The pair will hope to be in action again on Tuesday with Scotland hosting Georgia and Austria taking on Sweden. There’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding at Elland Road at present, but both men are due to report for pre-season training at Thorp Arch next month.

Cooper has already underlined his desire to play a key role for the Whites next season and help them back to the Premier League and while Wober’s future is up in the air for the time being, supporters will be keen to see him stick around in West Yorkshire for the new campaign.

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