Two questions are likely to have dominated Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United team selection this week: how fit is Stuart Dallas and how do I accommodate Adam Forshaw?
As of Friday morning, Bielsa said he had not discarded Dallas from his thoughts for Sunday’s Manchester United clash.
Based on Dallas’s toughness, proven history of playing with knocks and the magnitude of the match, the 30-year-old’s calm head and reliability should see him keep that run of starts going.
Junior Firpo has been pictured in training with the rest of the team and was expected to be available this weekend, but Bielsa did not explicitly mention the Spaniard in his press conference.
Even if he is ready to play, Firpo has not played in a month and the risk of throwing him into a match of Sunday’s ferocity from a standing start should keep Dallas at the front of Bielsa’s mind.
Firpo’s rustiness and Leo Hjelde’s knee injury means Dallas, if ready, will be needed at left-back rather than in the centre of midfield where, based on last weekend, he would be a welcome addition.
The most difficult aspect to predict on Sunday will be how, or if, Bielsa shuffles the spine of the team. It did not work last weekend and he blamed himself rather than Mateusz Klich in an awkward role.
Robin Koch looks immovable as the side’s defensive midfielder. Last week, Bielsa rolled through his options in that position.
“That position that Kalvin [Phillips] plays, we've had Forshaw, Pascal [Struijk] and Robin and in my opinion, none of them has failed in it.
“Each of them has a different profile. Forshaw is a more creative player when the plays in that defensive midfield position.
“Koch is a player that thinks about the equilibrium and the balance of the team defensively and Pascal is a player that gives it a lot of presence and solidity when he plays in front of the defence.”
Given Bruno Fernandes is likely to play as the advanced playmaker in a 4-2-3-1 for the visitors, Koch’s defensive mindset may edge it for Bielsa, despite the pain the Portuguese caused the German on the opening day of the season.
United’s last win, at West Ham United, also saw Koch start in the deeper pocket while Forshaw wreaked havoc breaking forward in a box-to-box role ahead of the German.
Klich versus Rodrigo could feasibly be the final debate for Bielsa to wrestle with. Rodrigo was the best player at Aston Villa and then just about looked better than everyone in a dire Everton trip.
His attacking ability, linked with the space Daniel James creates, could see the Spaniard squeeze Klich, who has been much more droppable this season, out of the picture.
Predicted line-up: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Dallas; Koch; Raphinha, Forshaw, Rodrigo, Harrison; James.
