Before playing the Bluebirds, Daniel Farke appears especially thin in one place
Leeds will play Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon in South Wales in an attempt to win three straight games overall and back-to-back in the Championship. On New Year’s Day, the Whites defeated Birmingham City 3-0 with ease. The following weekend, they defeated Peterborough in the FA Cup away from home by the same score.
If Leeds wins, they will have the chance to get within four points of the promotion spots. This is because Ipswich Town, in second place, are not playing until 17:30 and have a difficult game against Sunderland at home.
Even yet, Daniel Farke won’t be expecting an easy ride against Cardiff, who are only three points outside the play-off spots themselves and managed to draw 2-2 at Elland Road on the first weekend of the season.
Goalkeeper Illan Meslier, who was sent off for his red card in the 2-1 Boxing Day loss to Preston, is anticipated to return, giving Farke a boost. Also scheduled to travel across the Welsh border are Sam Byram, Joe Gelhardt, and Ian Poveda, who has been sick.
Cooper now stands alongside Struijk
The bad news for Farke is that he appears to be lacking a center defender, with Liam Cooper now seen as a “major doubt” and Pascal Struijk expected to miss his third straight game.
According to Phil Hay, Cooper’s groin issue prevented him from practicing on Friday, and as a result, his manager anticipates that he won’t play against the Bluebirds.
Cooper’s direction will be much missed
This season, Cooper has made 12 appearances in the Championship for Leeds, starting seven of them, including the final two. Despite not always being in the starting lineup, the information indicates that he might be Joe Rodon‘s best back-row teammate.
Indeed, among Leeds‘ defenders, only the Welshman has posted a higher passing accuracy (91.4% vs 90.8), more interceptions (1.4 per game vs 1.1), more blocks (0.9 vs 0.6) and won more aerial duels (2.6 vs 2.2).
Leeds gives up an average of less than one goal per game (0.86, or six in seven games) when Cooper starts, but exactly one goal per game (19 in 19) when he does not. That may sound like a small difference, but it can be pivotal in the more difficult away games.
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