Phil Hay: Kalvin Phillips likely to start v West Ham
Athletic journalist Phil Hay has said that Kalvin Phillips is likely to start for Leeds United tonight as they take on West Ham at the London Stadium.
Phillips travelled with the squad [All Leeds TV] but it looks like he’s going to go straight back into the starting XI, which is a huge boost for the club.
Writing in his regular matchday Q&A on The Athletic, Hay said, “Some good news, though. Kalvin Phillips and Rodrigo are both with the squad and our understanding is that Phillips is likely to start tonight.
“Gaetano Berardi has also made the trip and this would be his first appearance in a matchday squad since damaging his ACL at Derby last season.”
Massive for Leeds
This is huge news.
Phillips has been out for the past four games and Leeds have lost three of them.
He’s missed another four games throughout the season and we lost three of those too.
With Pascal Struijk likely missing the game tonight through injury, getting Phillips back is massive.
If he was out or only fit for the bench, Bielsa would have had a big decision about who to play in the holding midfield position if Struijk is out, along with Jamie Shackleton.
It could have been Diego Llorente, which would have been a huge ask for the centre-back, or Mateusz Klich could have dropped deep.
Thankfully, it looks like we don’t have to worry about that any more.
The next question is whether Rodrigo starts in front of Tyler Roberts.
In other Leeds United news, Leeds handed major boost over Kalvin Phillips for clash v West Ham