Junior Firpo is making progress as he continues to recover from the injury he picked up in a pre-season clash with Blackpool last month. Jesse Marsch will no doubt provide an update in his Friday afternoon press conference, but Firpo isn’t expected to spend much longer on the Leeds United sidelines.
Pascal Struijk has stood in at left-back over the first two weeks of the Premier League campaign and he’s done a fine job in the role so far. It’s clear left-back is not his natural position and he has been caught out on one or two occasions, but for the most part the Dutchman has held his own against Wolves and Southampton over the opening couple of weekends.
However, it must be said that his biggest test in the role is to come this weekend as the Whites take on Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea on Sunday at Elland Road. Chelsea haven’t been as free-flowing as they would like to be in attack so far this season, with a 1-0 win against Everton being followed up by a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur last time out.
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They still possess a huge threat down both flanks, though, and Struijk has his work cut out in dealing with the Blues’ right side in attack. Leeds, though, can take plenty from their outing a few months back against the same side, though.
Chelsea last made the trip to West Yorkshire back in May and ran out 3-0 victors as Marsch’s side struggled to cope against the current FIFA Club World Cup holders and, particularly in the first half, Struijk found it tough going at left-back. The defender found himself constantly outnumbered as Reece James, Mason Mount and Romelu Lukaku combined to create an overlap down the edge.
Leeds played a 3-4-3 system and attempted to match Tuchel’s side up on the night, with Raphinha operating as a right wing-back. However, Liam Cooper, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente all found themselves being manipulated by Lukaku’s movement and that allowed Chelsea to overload the edges and create the space in the middle.
It took just four minutes for Mount to open the scoring after being set up by the advancing James and they were unfortunate not to finish more opportunities created down that side. Dan James’ red card after 24 minutes didn’t help Leeds and goals from Christian Pulisic and Lukaku finished them off in the second half.
The Whites will play a 4-2-3-1 system this weekend and that should provide Struijk with more assistance, with Jack Harrison making a habit of tracking back this season, while Tyler Adams’ dogged efforts in the middle may be helpful, too, when it comes to limiting the impact of Mount or Kai Havertz.
He must get tighter to his man, be that James or Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who played in the role against Spurs on Sunday, but Leeds must also work to ensure neither full-back becomes isolated at any stage.
It’s absolutely vital that neither Struijk nor Rasmus Kristensen, who hasn’t enjoyed the best of starts to life in the Premier League, get caught out of position, as well. Such a mistake could be detrimental against the Blues and while it’s important not to play with a negative mindset, remaining disciplined is a must.
Tails are up at Elland Road at present after a positive start to the campaign and if Struijk can pass the toughest test of the season to date, he could make Marsch think twice before bringing Firpo back into the line-up.
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