Leeds United squad to be much stronger v Southampton with four returnees – Phil Hay
Jesse Marsch is unlikely to change his Leeds United starting XI against Southampton despite positive injury news this week, according to Phil Hay.
The Athletic journalist did admit that the bench would be much stronger at St Mary’s with Luis Sinisterra, Adam Forshaw and Liam Cooper all returning from injury.
They will all likely have to wait for some action though, as will Dan James as he finished the final match of his suspension in the 2-1 win over Wolves.
Writing in his pre-match Q&A for The Athletic on Saturday [13 August], Hay shared if there would be any big changes to the travelling squad.
“Leeds are looking for a second win in a row and they’ve got a few players back – Cooper, Forshaw, Sinisterra and James,” he wrote.
“It’s unlikely that Marsch will be drawn into many changes to his line-up, if any, but his bench should be stronger than it was last Saturday.”
No changes?
That certainly makes the most sense.
Despite a couple of nervy moments, Leeds looked relatively solid throughout the side against Wolves, and managed to withstand pressure at certain points of the win.
Southampton may not offer as much pressure but with it being their first home game of the Premier League season, expectations will be high and need to be dealt with.
Marsch will want his Leeds side to keep the game level and tight to get past those early stages untouched, which may allow the likes of Sinisterra and James to come on and make a real difference.
With five substitutes now back in the Premier League, all four of these will likely see minutes whichever way the game is going, with that strength-in-depth finally back.
We can’t remember the last time we had four big names on the bench, never mind just a couple due to our rotten injury luck, so let’s hope it brings out a different side to us.
Bring it on.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has finally responded as transfer talk surrounding Ismaila Sarr goes into overdrive this week