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View: Bielsa drops big hint that Leeds 20yo set for 1st PL start v Burnley after new injury blow
The Leeds United Under-23s smashed Fulham 7-1 on Monday to ease the pain from Sunday and make the aggregate score for the two games 9-8 to the Whites.
And we think Marcelo Bielsa has dropped a big hint that 20-year-old Leif Davis could be set for his first Premier League start against Burnley on December 27.
Liam Cooper went off with an injury in the game against Man United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Davis was the player who replaced him and it was his second Premier League appearance after coming on in the 1-1 draw against Man City.
Davis was one of five first-team players who played for the Under-23s yesterday. And he was the only one who came off at half-time.
That’s the normal route from Bielsa for a player who’s going to be heavily involved with the first-team.
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You can watch the game here.
If Cooper is injured then it will be a crippling blow for Leeds, who are already missing Robin Koch and Diego Llorente through injury.
Llorente is back in training but unlikely to be rushed back for the Burnley game given his injury record this season.
Bielsa likes to use Davis – normally a left-back – as a left-sided centre-back.
If Cooper is out then we think it’s between Davis and Pascal Struijk for the starting spot alongside Luke Ayling.
And we think that yesterday’s decision means that Davis has got a very good chance of getting his first Premier League start.
That’s great for Davis, not so great for Leeds. Davis and Luke Ayling at centre-back, or even Struijk and Ayling, shows just how stretched the Leeds squad has got in defence.
We’ve been hit with a real barrage of blows through injury – MOT Leeds News columnist Paul Robinson said any Premier League side would be crippled by losing three senior centre-backs.
Despite Bielsa saying he has enough cover in that position, we think the situation has changed and we’d really like to see another centre-back brought in this January.
In other Leeds United news, ‘Definitely not’: Dermot Gallagher delivers verdict on controversial incident from Leeds v Man U