Daniel Farke to make obvious Joel Piroe decision after what Leeds United star did on Thursday
Mateo Joseph has been Daniel Farke’s main striker choice this season and the Leeds United youngster has flourished so far.
The 20-year-old made zero Championship starts last term, only appearing off the bench on 20 occasions, with Patrick Bamford leading the line as the Whites narrowly missed out on promotion.
However, with the 31-year-old veteran struggling to keep his fitness this term, Joseph has been trusted with the centre-forward spot, which has paid dividends for his confidence.
Despite this, he has only notched one goal in his first eight starts, albeit with three assists also to his name, which allowed Joel Piroe to steal the starting XI spot for the 2-2 draw with Sunderland.
The former Swansea City man looks to be in brilliant form for Leeds, which has left Farke with some incredibly tough questions to answer, but Joseph may have just answered them for him.
Daniel Farke to snub Joel Piroe once again ahead of Leeds United v Sheffield United
While he only has two league starts this season, Piroe – who Jobie McAnuff dubbed “top drawer” [Leeds United News] – already has four goals, with three of them coming as a substitute against Hull City, Cardiff City and Coventry.
He has only amassed 42 minutes of football in these matches, and even despite his stellar form, Farke will feel obliged to restore Joseph to the starting XI after his international hat-trick earlier this week.
With Spain Under-21s facing Kazakhstan on Thursday 10 October, the young striker scored a trio of first-half goals in a thrilling 4-3 win, and the hope will be that he can bring that form back to Elland Road.
Leeds are just three points off the top of the Championship, even being in fifth after nine matches, and a win could be crucial in the promotion race at this early point in the campaign.
In other Leeds United news, Graham Smyth has mooted an “interesting” potential position change for a Leeds star.
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