MOT View: Cooper likely to be out v Fulham after international snub
Liam Cooper has been left out of the Scotland squad for their upcoming internationals and it delivers a pretty strong hint that he won’t be fit for Leeds United on Friday when they take on Fulham.
Cooper was ruled out of the last Leeds game against Chelsea, with no word prior to the match from Marcelo Bielsa in his pre-match press conference.
There were rumours going around on Saturday morning that he had tested positive for Covid but Leeds have a policy of not commenting on these matters.
Bielsa revealed after the game that Cooper had been ruled out with an illness but wouldn’t be any more specific than that. [Leeds Live]
Pascal Struijk and Diego Llorente helped keep a clean sheet against Chelsea and Robin Koch was put on the bench ahead of his return for the Leeds Under-23s on Monday.
Bielsa’s pre-match press conference for the Fulham is on Wednesday and we should get confirmation then, both on Cooper’s availability and that of striker Patrick Bamford.
However, we think that if Cooper was fit, he would be selected for the Scotland squad.
Instead, Steve Clarke has recalled Norwich centre-back Grant Hanley, who hasn’t played for Scotland since March 2018.
Cooper has been a regular in the Scotland squad as either a starter or on the bench since 2019.
The good news for Leeds is that we can cope without Cooper thanks to Llorente and Koch both returning from injury. The captain will still be a miss but Bamford would be a much tougher pill to swallow at the moment.
However, we hope Cooper recovers quickly and suffers no long-lasting effects.
In other Leeds United news, MOT View: Game-changer – Bielsa must unleash exciting hotshot striker v Fulham if Bamford is out