Patrick Bamford will be missing for Leeds United tomorrow afternoon when they host West Ham United at Elland Road.
Leeds are having to contend with a host of injuries at the moment, as Bamford is joined by Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk (suspension) on the sidelines.
There’s also doubt surrounding the availability of Luke Ayling, Raphinha and Jack Harrison heading into Leeds’ clash with West Ham, leaving more cause for concern for Marcelo Bielsa.
As our graphic above shows, Leeds are threadbare and that’s going to make things tough against a West Ham side really threatening the top-six at the moment.
Illan Meslier will continue in goal, with Junior Firpo, Liam Cooper, Charlie Cresswell and Stuart Dallas potentially making up the defence. It would be Cresswell’s league debut and a baptism of fire against Michail Antonio, but he’s deserved the opportunity.
The role of Kalvin Phillips in holding midfield, then, is crucial if Leeds are to make Cresswell’s afternoon as comfortable as possible.
Mateusz Klich and Rodrigo Moreno have been linking up well in Leeds’ last two fixtures, so should continue in the midfield, as the latter looks for a breakthrough in terms of goals.
Daniel James should be asked to continue out wide, with Leeds having everything crossed that Harrison is well enough to come back into the side on the right. There’s also Raphinha to consider, yet given his heavily iced leg after Newcastle, involvement feels unlikely.
In attack, with no Bamford, it looks like Tyler Roberts will earn a start. He and Rodrigo’s roles in the side are interchangeable.