Leeds United: Daniel Farke must sub off Junior Firpo at half-time v Swansea City
Daniel Farke must sub off Junior Firpo at half-time for Leeds United as they go in at half-time 2-0 up against Swansea City on Tuesday (13 February)
The Whites were aiming to build on their impressive 3-0 win over Rotherham United and maintain their push for automatic promotion when they take on a Swansea side who managed to end a five-game winless streak in their 1-0 over playoff hopefuls Hull City (10 February).
The German boss decided to stick with the same starting XI which triumphed over Rotherham but was forced into a late change when Patrick Bamford was replaced by Joel Piroe before kick-off.
Leeds United took the lead inside eight minutes when Crycensio Summerville saw his deflected strike creep into the Swansea City net to bag his 16th Championship goal of the season.
It was soon 2-0 when Piroe who wasn’t supposed to be in the Whites’ starting XI, punished a lacklustre Swansea defence with a powerful shot which goalkeeper Carl Rushworth could not deal with.
Gnonto added a third for the Whites when he was found brilliantly by Archie Gray before smartly finishing in the bottom corner.
Junior Firpo has looked defensively lost for Leeds – Daniel Farke must sub him off
Leeds United may well have added the qualities and experience of Connor Roberts to their squad on transfer deadline day and he may well be tempted to bring him on for Firpo who’s looked.
The 27-year-old left-back has struggled with fitness and injury issues this season and certainly looked like a player who’s just come back from fitness troubles.
Despite the Whites’ huge dominance in the first half through goals from Summerville and Piroe, the Swans were still able to exploit Firpo’s flank and the former Barcelona man desperately needed Ethan Ampadu to cover him on a number of occasions.
If Farke doesn’t bring him off at half-time, it may well be a route that Swansea continue to exploit and drag themselves back into the game.
Roberts’ signing at Elland Road is supposed to provide Farke with the specialist options he needs in both full-back positions after some dreadful injuries recurrences to both Firpo and Sam Byram.
It is mightily crucial that Farke manages the workload of both players heading into a testing and gruelling schedule over the next month or so and the decision to take off Firpo for Roberts may aid Leeds United in their quest to keep another clean sheet.
Firpo has massively improved his performance levels in recent weeks despite all the rumours that he could well have quit the club before the transfer window deadline. However, that hasn’t been the case in the first half of this game, with the former Real Betis looking largely anonymous in possession and a liability in defence.
In other Leeds United news, Danny Rohl has admitted that Ian Poveda was desperate to leave Elland Road in January
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