Sky Sports: Player could earn Leeds debut v Man City, senior duo unavailable
Diego Llorente could earn his Leeds United debut this weekend when Marcelo Bielsa’s men play against Manchester City at Elland Road, according to Sky Sports.
Leeds signed Llorente, 27, last month from Real Sociedad in a deal worth around £18million [BBC Sport].
Since joining, the Spain international has not featured for the Whites as he was left out of the matchday squad for the win against Sheffield United last week.
However, Sky Sports reports on their website that Llorente is “likely to be included in the squad” against Man City but adds that Pablo Hernandez and Adam Forshaw will continue to be sidelined and are unavailable for selection.
We’re still waiting to see what sort of role Llorente will play at Leeds because Bielsa seemed as though he locked in his two starting centre-backs for the season in Liam Cooper and Robin Koch.
Cooper is Leeds’ club captain and played a major role in them winning promotion to the Premier League last season while Koch is a full Germany international who’s had more time to settle in at Elland Road than Llorente.
Koch did concede penalties in each of his first two league appearances for Leeds but was outstanding in the 1-0 win at Bramall Lane last week.
Stats by WyScout show that Koch 67 per cent of aerial duels, won 100 per cent of loose balls he challenged for and made 13 recoveries. All of those stats were better than or equal to his numbers in matches against Liverpool and Fulham.
Llorente’s going to find it tough to break into this team but he could be used as a late substitute against Man City this weekend and Bielsa may opt to play a back-three if he’s trying to defend a lead or a point.
In other Leeds United news, Michael Owen has predicted a big winner in Leeds’ clash with Man City.