Leeds United captain Liam Cooper is likely to be in contention to start for this afternoon’s trip to Arsenal. Cooper was forced to withdraw in the warm-up of last Saturday’s 4-0 defeat to Manchester City, but Jesse Marsch confirmed in Friday’s press conference that the Whites captain has taken part in training this week.
He will be hoping to lead out a side that will be without Stuart Dallas for the first time since promotion to the Premier League. Dallas underwent surgery on a femoral fracture earlier this week and is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
At this stage it is unclear whether Marsch will stick to a back five that enjoyed some success against City, or revert back to his more familiar 4-2-2-2. If the former, Robin Koch, Junior Firpo and Luke Ayling are likely to keep their places, with Cooper and one of Diego Llorente or Charlie Cresswell making up the remainder of the defence.
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With Adam Forshaw still out injured, Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich seem destined to line up in midfield together. It is in attack where Marsch perhaps faces his biggest selection headache, particularly if he opts to use the back five.
That would leave Jack Harrison, Raphinha, Daniel James, Rodrigo Moreno and Joe Gelhardt all fighting it out for three places. Rodrigo struggled leading the line on his own last week, meaning one of Gelhardt or James could come into replace him in the number nine spot.
Full Leeds United squad: Meslier, Klaesson, Ayling, Llorente, Cresswell, Koch, Cooper, Struijk, Firpo, Phillips, Shackleton, Kenneh, Bate, Klich, Rodrigo, Raphinha, James, Harrison, Gelhardt, Greenwood
