Beren Cross
Marcelo Bielsa may have taken Patrick Bamford away with one hand this week, but he gave us Joe Gelhardt and Tyler Roberts with the other.
Leeds United may finally have some options back on the bench for the visit of Newcastle United at Elland Road.
While Daniel James has often flattered to deceive as a striker, none of the three forwards on my bench will trouble him for a start this weekend.
The momentum and positivity of last weekend’s victory is something I would like to feed off, while Rodrigo, Roberts and Gelhardt will be carrying varying degrees of rust from their time out.
Assuming Junior Firpo and Adam Forshaw are unavailable, as Bielsa suggested, there are two enforced changes to make.
Diego Llorente returns from suspension to partner Pascal Struijk for me, while it’s a toss-up between drafting Leo Hjelde or Rodrigo in for Forshaw.
Given how assured Hjelde looked in both of the West Ham United games and how blunt Rodrigo seemed from the bench, I’d slot the Norwegian in at left-back with Stuart Dallas into central midfield with Mateusz Klich.
Beren’s XI: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Hjelde; Koch; Raphinha, Dallas, Klich, Harrison; James.
Joe Donnohue
To Bamford, or not to Bamford, that was going to be the question. Given Leeds went nine points clear of the relegation zone last weekend, Jack Harrison found his goalscoring boots and Raphinha created more chances in a single game than he has done previously in his career, the Whites will probably be alright without him.
Newcastle are hardly the most formidable opponents at present and are finding out all the gold bullion in Saudi Arabia still can't persuade anybody, except ex-Burnley players, that St James' Park is the place to further their careers in 2022.
Leeds can go into this weekend's fixture bullish after two consecutive wins, safe in the knowledge that even if Newcastle go a goal up, they have made quite the habit of throwing points away from winning positions this season.
Llorente is back from suspension and will bring his living room antics back to the Elland Road turf alongside Michail Antonio's keeper Struijk. That should allow Luke Ayling to feature at right-back, making those supportive, forward runs with the ball at his feet.
Robin Koch is in line for a Germany recall and has quietly been rather impressive in defensive midfield since coming back from injury. With Forshaw's availability unlikely, starting 25-year-old Koch in the Kalvin Phillips role doesn't seem such a bad alternative.
With Dallas required at left-back to cover for the injured Firpo, in addition to Forshaw's problem, that opens up a spot in midfield which could be filled by Lewis Bate for his full Premier League debut.
The ex-Chelsea youngster was substituted on and off last weekend and looked understandably dejected as he re-took his place on the bench midway through the second half.
Having missed the under-23s' 2-0 win over Derby County on Monday night, he's in line for some form of involvement this weekend.
Finally, as the saying goes: don't change a winning team. In Leeds' case, don't change a winning trio. Raphinha, Harrison and James worked well in tandem at the London Stadium.
If they can manage the same against the likes of Jamaal Lascelles at the heart of Newcastle's defence, they could be in for a similar pillorying of Martin Dubravka's goal.
Joe's XI: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Dallas; Koch; Raphinha, Klich, Bate, Harrison; James.
