Daniel Farke has options when Leeds United plays Ipswich Town in the Championship on Saturday afternoon, so we asked our club writer to select the starting lineup he would like.
The need for a tactical change at Leeds United that I have been advocating for over the past few weeks is at its highest volume. It seems so simple: Joel Piroe, the goal scorer, needs to switch positions with Georginio Rutter, the creative, who is struggling to score.
If Piroe’s opponent hadn’t been among the top two this weekend, I could have been inclined to pull him completely, but there might be a benefit to keeping the ship as steady as possible against Ipswich Town. Although there was some concern following last week’s glitch, this lineup and system had won nine of the last 13 games.
It is quite risky to make too many changes against a team as skilled, self-assured, and formidable as Ipswich. The bigger picture, which has been evident over a longer period of time, justifies putting last week’s worries aside.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, changing Rutter and Piroe might be sufficient to achieve a few small gains. Although there was a brief doubt at left-back following Junior Firpo‘s return to fitness, Djed Spence is still the superior player—even when playing out of position—and he is becoming better.
The other four players in the front four are either untouchable or have enough credit in their accounts to remain in the team for the time being, but Wilfried Gnonto was deserving of some thought and against anyone outside the top two would have been my substitute for Piroe. I think Glen Kamara and Ethan Ampadu can both return to their best with a week to prepare for this one.
Mellier, Gray, Rodon, Struijk, Spence, Ampadu, Kamara, James, Rutter, Summerville, and Piroe make up Farke‘s XI.
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