Leeds United XI keep, drop, start: Jaka Bijol back in, midfielder axed
Daniel Farke will have some fascinating team selection calls when Leeds United's season resumes.
The Whites currently sit fifth in the Premier League table, with two wins and three draws from their opening five games of the season.
As such, it's been an excellent start to the campaign, and Elland Road is dreaming of a potential European adventure for 2027-28.
For now, they remain dreams as far more work is needed to be done before that can become a reality.
Farke's side restart their league action on 10 October with a daunting away trip to Arsenal.
Ahead of that, MOT Leeds News picks out one regular starter who should be dropped, one who should keep their place and one out-of-favour player who should be in the team moving forward.
Keep - Gabriel Gudmundsson
Refraining from an obvious selection to keep in the team such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Gabriel Gudmundsson is a player Farke shouldn't be dropping.
The 27-year-old has put his early-season injury absence behind him this month and is playing excellent football once again.
Despite coming in a 0-0 draw, Crystal Palace last time out was arguably his best display of the season so far.
In his absence, Farke has tried James Justin and Melvin Bard at left wing-back, but the former is better in central defence and the latter failed to take his chance.
Drop - Ao Tanaka
Having appeared in four and started three of Leeds' first five Premier League games, Ao Tanaka is in a consistency crisis currently.
A good 72 minutes against Newcastle was followed up with a disappointing 68-minute display against Palace, which also saw him booked.
Staying consistent at Premier League level has routinely been an issue for the Japanese international, and he's not made clear strides to address it.
Now is the time for Farke to be ruthless and drop the 28-year-old, with Sean Longstaff having proven time and time again he's more than capable at this level for Leeds.
Start - Jaka Bijol
With just two starts and 164 league minutes under his belt this term, Jaka Bijol seems to have fallen out of favour with Farke recently.
He's been an unused substitute in both of the Whites' last two league fixtures, with new signing Nico Elvedi being selected over him.
Elvedi hasn't been totally convincing though, whereas Bijol proved last season that for the most part, he's a reliable and solid centre-back at Premier League level.
With Joe Rodon still injured, Farke must be careful not to put too much of a workload on his stretched centre-back department.
As such, Bijol should be afforded a fresh round of opportunities to cement his place in Leeds' starting lineup this season after the international break.