Leeds United vs Hull City: Daniel Farke justified in dropping Patrick Bamford at Elland Road
Daniel Farke has a number of big selection calls to make when Leeds United host Hull City in the Championship.
United played out a 2-2 draw at Watford on Friday (29 March) in which they produced one of their most underwhelming first halves of the season.
As per Jonny Cooper, Leeds faced the most shots on target (five) and completed their lowest passing accuracy (76.3 per cent) of any first half.
Leeds United team news v Hull City
However, shifting Ethan Ampadu to centre-back alongside Joe Rodon gave Leeds control and they snatched a late point in Hertfordshire.
Lessons will be learned from that rare blip, and Farke may well be tempted to make a change or two to his side, especially in the final third.
Mateo Joseph was Leeds’ late hero at Vicarage Road, scoring just 25 seconds after being introduced from the substitutes’ bench.
That is the fastest goal scored by a substitute in the Championship this season [Jonny Cooper] and highlighted what Joseph is capable of.
The 20-year-old scored from one of his two attempts against Watford, the other being blocked, while completing 100 per cent of his three passes.
Mateo Joseph goals tally for Leeds United
Joseph generated an expected goals value of 0.45 against the Hornets [Sofascore]. For context, Patrick Bamford’s was zero after 90 minutes.
It could be argued that Joseph simply benefited from the chaos theory, in which teams go all out when time is ticking down and they need a goal.
All the youngster can do is score, though, and he now has three goals across the last 122 minutes he has been on the field.
Bamford has now failed to score in three of his past four outings, meanwhile, and failed to so much as have a shot against Watford [WhoScored]. That is the first time that has happened in a game Bamford has started this season.
This is not to say Bamford should be dropped indefinitely, as such, but Joseph has earned the chance to show what he is capable of with a full league debut.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites could be in line for an unexpected transfer windfall this summer.
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