Good Morning. It's Thursday 2nd January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road
Leeds extend lead at the top of the Championship despite dire performanceLeeds extended their lead at the top of the Championship to three points after a frustrating draw against Blackburn Rovers on New Years Day.
With Burnley drawing again, and Sunderland piling more misery on Chris Wilder's Sheffield Utd, Leeds have built up a commanding three point lead over the chasing pack, yet many fans are convinced they havn't seen the best of Leeds yet.
Blackburn were happy to concede possession to the Whites as long as they didn't strike at goal, and the hosts were happy to oblige. Leeds build up play was monotonous; couple that with Blackburn's time wasting and falling over escapades, and it had all the hallmarks of a party political broadcast!
The game sprung into life two minutes from time when Mateo Joseph was taken out in the penalty box by Danny Batth. The ground found its voice after Pascal Struijk duly ablated from 12 yards, only for the visitors to go straight to the other end and equalise moments later.
Farke's players paid far too much respect to Blackburn, whose squad is only paid a small proportion of what the Leeds mega-stars earn. If they were unwilling (or unable) to go toe to toe, and take them on, perhaps they don't deserve to be earning almost four times as much (£31,109 average weekly Leeds salary v Blackburn's average weekly salary £8667).
Key injuries could prompt incoming loansInjuries to Jayden Bogle and Sam Byram during the 1-1 draw with Blackburn may give Daniel Farke food for thought during the January transfer window.
The gaffer has already insisted that Leeds are going to have a very quiet transfer window, and has indicated that activity is likely to be reactive as apposed to pro-active, but with Max Wober and forgotten man Isaac Schmidt the only (semi) fit full-back's in Farke's squad, could we see a utility player come in to plug the gap?
The gaffer is heavily reliant on wing-backs, not only defend, but charge up and down the wings, creating width, and moving defenders out of position. Junior Firpo, Max Wober and Sam Byram's injury records have always been a cause for concern, given the amount of time each has spent on the sidelines - severely weakening the starting line up!
The club's decision not to strengthen this time last year (apart from Connor Roberts) played a massive part as to why they ran out of stream towards the end of the season, winning just four of their last eleven games.
Injuries dent Wilder's promotion hopesThe Blades were without top scorer Tyrese Campbell, first-choice winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, and key midfielder Vini Souza last night as Chris Wilders outfit succumbed to a 2-1 loss at the Stadium of Light last night.
News that Oliver Arblaster and Harry Souttar have already been ruled out for the rest of the season is great news for Whites fans. The duo were in fantastic form during the first half of the season, and helped elevate their team into promotion contenders.
Without them, Wilders squad is spread thin. A 2-0 loss loss against Burnley followed by a draw against West Brom saw them lose top spot. They have now been pushed down to third place, but with recruitments expected soon, we shouldn't come them out yet!
