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2 ways Leeds United can combat fresh player blow v West Ham United

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Leeds United are to be without Diego Llorente for the trip to West Ham, with the player serving a one-match suspension for picking up five yellow cards.

The Whites need more players missing out like a hole in the head, with injuries piling up to the point where it’s genuinely unbelievable that we’re seeing more by the week.

Suspensions aren’t ideal either, and Leeds have two to contend with this week against West Ham.

Yellow cards given to Tyler Roberts and Diego Llorente in the win over Burnley mean they are missing for Leeds’ second trip to the London Stadium in seven days.

Llorente’s absence is more of a blow to Marcelo Bielsa than Roberts’ given that the forward is injured anyway.

Here, we take a look at two ways that we think Bielsa could combat this blow of losing his star centre-back for today’s game

Ayling to centre-back

The first and most probable move that Bielsa could opt for against the Irons is to move Luke Ayling back infield to play centre-back alongside Robin Koch.

Ayling has proven time and again that his best position is at right-back and while fans plead for him to stay there and keep square pegs in their square holes, it’s a commonly used solution for the Argentine.

He doesn’t look out of place at centre-back and brings some much-needed leadership and organisation to the backline while Liam Cooper sits out.

This would mean Stuart Dallas drops in to cover Ayling’s position on the right side, making for a back four of three full-backs.

Leo Hjelde to start?

Last Sunday’s FA Cup meeting with West Ham was essentially a dress rehearsal for a more important league fixture for us.

However, Leeds’ weakened team did give us chance to see Leo Hjelde at centre-back for the first time, to which he impressed a lot.

Starting at the left side of the pairing, Hejlde never looked out of sorts and handled the challenge of marking Michail Antonio very well.

It might be a bold move to start an 18-year-old centre-back in the league when points are at stake, but Hjelde’s audition for a starting berth went very well.

Not only has he shown he’s ready for a chance, but it allows Ayling to stay at right-back.

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Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.