Who plays up top?
Jesse Marsch’s single biggest Leeds United call, among the many he has to make every matchday, seems to be what he does in attack. There was talk of a front two in his pre-match press conference, but the prospect of dropping one of Luis Sinisterra, Brenden Aaronson or Jack Harrison seems unlikely.
Rodrigo’s dislocated shoulder leaves it up to Patrick Bamford or Joe Gelhardt. The former will of course be the preference, but how long will the medical team feel he can last?
The 32nd minute was considered too early for his introduction on Tuesday night. Will he suddenly be ready for an hour from the start four days later? The debate around Bamford's fragility only points a harsher spotlight on the decisions made in the transfer window around strikers.
READ MORE: Leeds United line-up vs Brentford with Bamford risk too great and Llorente axed
The cavalry arrives
The bench has looked progressively stronger as the season has worn on for Marsch, but the return of Luke Ayling, Junior Firpo and Liam Cooper to contention really fleshes this unit out. Cooper may be the only one with a chance of starting, but if all three are in the squad at the very least then Marsch will have options aplenty.
Gnonto’s introduction?
The Whites cleared up any doubts about when the Italian would arrive at Thorp Arch with a picture of him brandishing his newly minted shirt at the training ground on Friday. The assumption would be there are no problems with his registration, so Marsch must decide what he does with the teenager.
Given he is only 18, with zero training sessions under his belt and a plethora of other options for the head coach to choose from, you would expect it’s a watching brief for Gnonto. However, he may be tempted to go over to the away end to introduce himself at the very least.
Jansson’s reunion
This is by no means the first time Leeds and Pontus Jansson have crossed paths since his 2019 exit, but it’s always worth a watch when they do clash. The Sweden international’s character always puts him front and centre with his old team-mates and he loves the narrative.
Top-six form
A win for the Whites would make it 11 points from six matches. Extrapolate that kind of firm out to 38 matches and it’s around 70 points. That’s top-six form, or even top-four form depending on which campaigns you look at.
It’s been a favourable run of fixtures to start the season for Leeds, but no match at this level is easy, especially for a side which was fourth-bottom last term. The performances have been encouraging and there has been nothing flukey about this start to the term.
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