Leeds United have found their second season in the Premier League a more challenging affair than their first, with an almost unprecedented injury crisis hampering Marcelo Bielsa's options throughout.
However, perhaps last season's most impressive performance - and one that set their standards for the season as it came in only the second month of the campaign - came during struggles with injuries as well.
Leeds face Aston Villa in their first match since January 22 and they would love to produce a result and performance like they did when they last travelled to Villa Park.
As mentioned, they were carrying several injuries as Kalvin Phillips was unavailable, as well as both Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente. This meant that Luke Ayling played at left centre back, alongside Robin Koch, with Pascal Struijk in defensive midfield. As well as these injuries, this was a time when Raphinha was still a brand new player, so Helder Costa started on the right wing.
Nowadays, it's difficult to imagine Leeds putting on one of their best performances of the season with Raphinha only featuring as a substitute.
Alongside Leeds' selection issues, Villa were flying at the beginning of 2020/21 and had won all four of their opening fixtures, including a 7-2 victory over champions, Liverpool. Leeds put an end to that run though as a Patrick Bamford hat-trick meant they ran out 3-0 victors on the night.
The game didn't start brilliantly for Leeds, with Pascal Struijk being withdrawn in the first 20 minutes after having picked up a yellow card. Bielsa seemed to feel that he would struggle to deal with Jack Grealish rampaging inside with the ball whilst on a yellow card and thus brought on Jamie Shackleton instead.
However, Leeds found a way to take control and the stats showed that Bamford wasn't simply clinical with his chances in a smash and grab but the Whites really deserved the victory. In fact, according to fbref - a football stats website - Leeds racked up almost four expected goals on the night. This shows that they were actually wasteful in front of goal rather than clinical and perhaps could have won by more.
Bamford's hat-trick was magnificent though, as he scored three very different goals. The first was a striker's instinct to be in the right place to bury a rebound after Emilano Martinez saved from Rodrigo. His second was a shot from the edge of the box which flew into the top corner and left the goalkeeper rooted to the spot and the third demonstrated fantastic footwork inside the penalty area before a deft finish into the far corner.
Leeds will be without Bamford this time around though as the striker is one of the players who has suffered most with injuries this season.
Instead, they will be hoping for a repeat performance from another player as the Villa Park match was arguably Rodrigo's best in a Leeds shirt. His ability to find space and take the ball on the turn before releasing Leeds' wingers to get to the byline was a major part of what made the attack so effective on the night.
He could be utilised up front on Wednesday, in the absence of Bamford, however he has only occupied that position a couple of times this season. Instead, he seems more likely to take up the attacking midfield role again. If he can find similar space, he could be very effective in getting the ball to Raphinha in the kind of areas where the Brazilian can do the most damage.
Another aspect of last season's win at Villa Park which stuck in the memory was a break forwards in the dying moments of the match. Leeds had the result well and truly sewn up but they still burst forwards with four players looking to score a fourth goal. This demonstrated their extreme levels of fitness and willingness to keep running. Should the game be a tight one on Wednesday night, it's that stamina which could prove pivotal.
It has to be said that Leeds haven't found the same standards this season as they showed in this game, with only the recent 3-2 win at West Ham coming close. If they can get near to it again at when they return to Villa Park on Wednesday evening, they'll have a very good chance of getting a result.
