By Mans Emeus
If Leeds can overcome a ten man Wigan, it feels like they can overcome just about anything this season. This weekend’s three points was so important for a number of reasons. Kiko keeping a clean sheet, Bamford bagging a brace, and winning quite comfortably without having to display a stunning performance. Stuart Dallas came up with another solid performance, he’s acting as if he’s been playing right back all his life. I think it’s safe to say Luke Ayling won’t be walking in to that back four once he gets back from injury. Another positive note from the Wigan game is that Jack Harrison had one of his better games in a Leeds shirt. Energetic, creative, and gave Nathan Byrne a run for his money all afternoon.
The upcoming week is a big one, two fixtures against teams that should be in the top half of the table in May. The first game will be against promotion rivals Brentford. It is very difficult to say exactly how good they are at this stage of the season. They have picked up four points from their opening three games and something tells me that they have got a bit of work to do before they hit full throttle. It also has to be mentioned that Brentford’s visit to Elland Road on Wednesday marks the return of Pontus Jansson. It will be an odd feeling seeing him in a Brentford kit and I can’t help but wonder if he’ll be feeling some form of regret leaving when he walks through the tunnel at Elland Road again, I know I would. I still believe he will receive a warm welcome on Wednesday even though he would often put himself above the team which ultimately led to him leaving the club (according to Swedish media).
On Saturday Leeds head to the Bet365 Stadium to take on Stoke City. Stoke are currently bottom of the table having picked up only one point during the opening three games. They probably won’t be down there for long though as they have a solid team and are simply too good to be fighting a relegation battle. This will be a very tough away fixture.
On the injury front, there is still no official update as to when Luke Ayling and Tyler Roberts will be fit. Hopefully they are back soon as they are both very important players. I think Roberts will have a breakthrough season and a massive impact when other injuries on attacking players start coming in. We have a very exciting week of football ahead of us. After all, we haven’t lost a league game for 14 matches in the month of August. Unbeaten since 2016.
Stat credit: LUFCDATA