Jesse Marsch will seldom have a better opportunity to give Crysencio Summerville the Premier League start he has been craving this weekend. The head coach will be forced into at least one change as Leeds United travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday with Luis Sinisterra dropping out through suspension.
The Colombian winger will be serving a one-match ban for the red card he received in last Sunday’s draw with Crystal Palace and as a result, Marsch has a decision to make when it comes to his front four. Of course, given the squad depth at his disposal, he does have senior options to come into the side in place of Sinisterra.
Mateusz Klich and Patrick Bamford are two options for the American, both would require a sizeable reshuffle of the front four, though, with Brenden Aaronson being the man to play out wide, as he did at the start of the season for the Whites. As such, in the name of keeping changes to a minimum, Marsch may find himself turning to Summerville as United go in search of their first away win of the season.
Read more: Five ways Leeds United's front line could line up vs Crystal Palace as Marsch forced to change
He has spoken previously about trying to find first-team opportunities for the club’s brightest young players and Summerville is undoubtedly one of those and if he was to be selected, he would be making his first appearance in a Premier League starting XI. The 20-year-old’s game time in a Leeds shirt has been limited this season.
Starts have come in the Carabao Cup and in the Under-21s, but league runouts have been few and far between. In fact, he managed to accumulate just 48 minutes of match action in the top flight, making it hard for him to really showcase his ability and make an impact on games.
He was given just six minutes against Wolves on the opening day, while he got off the bench for an 11-minute stint on Sunday against Steven Gerrard’s Villa and on both occasions, he failed to show his best. Perhaps his best performance for the Whites this season came at the Gtech Community Stadium against Brentford, stepping off the bench in the 59th minute against Brentford to play a part in a key moment of the game.
Bursting into the penalty area, Summerville appeared to win a penalty after being brought down. Referee Robert Jones waved away Leeds’ claims, though, before jogging over to the touchline to show the enraged Jesse Marsch a red card for his protests.
United ultimately went on to lose the game convincingly but Summerville did his reputation no harm with his performance off the bench. That performance will give the head coach confidence that the Netherlands youth international is capable of stepping into the fold and his technical ability on the ball could even be Leeds’ trump card.
The former Feyenoord youngster’s selection would allow Jack Harrison to return to the left following his jaded performance on the right last weekend, while Aaronson would undoubtedly be the man chosen to play in the middle of the park, where he has shone brightly so far this season.
Sinisterra is likely to come back into the side when Arsenal make the journey to Elland Road next week, but, if selected, Summerville will be aiming to at least give the head coach a reason to think twice.
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