Leeds Utd v Aston Villa Match Thread - Cooper returns to starting XI

[Ellandback1]

Sunday 2nd October 4.30pm | Elland Road

Aston Villa will be without four key players for their visit to Elland Road on Sunday as pressure begins to mount on Steven Garrard. Only a point separates the two sides, with Leeds four places above their West Midlands counterparts. Steven Gerrard's side have played a game more, and have already lost four games this season (Bournemouth, Palace, West Ham and Arsenal), and have a -4 goal difference. To make matters worse, Boubacar Kamara (ligament knee damage), Matty Cash (hamstring), Lucas Digne (stress fracture -ankle) and Diego Carlos (Achilles) are all long term absentees, giving Leeds a massive boost.

Leeds Manager Jesse Marsch faced a selection dilemma in defence. Luke Ayling has recovered from knee surgery and has made cameo roles against Brentford and Southampton's U21's unscathed, whilst Rasmus Kristensen has also shaken off the knock he picked up a month ago in training. He averaged an hour against Croatia and France during the International break with Denmark, earning rave reviews. Kristensen will start, with Ayling making the bench.





Fit again Junior Firpo faced a challenge to displace Pascal Struijk at left back but will only make the bench whilst Diego Llorente drops to the bench in favour of Liam Cooper. Fresh from International duty with Italy, Wilfred Gnonto also makes the bench. He picked up a knock, which led to his withdrawal against Hungary after an hour, but reports indicate it was precautionary.

Patrick Bamford netted a hat trick for the U21's against Southampton and will make the bench. The 29 year old has participated in four games so far this season (two as a substitute). With only 171 minutes of game time under his belt, he will be desperate to make an impact. He currently has the lowest of all Leeds players on the Whoscored ratings (6.04). Rodrigo has recovered from the shoulder injury he picked up during the Brentford game and will start. Luis Sinisterra was Leeds only (fit) player not to participate in training earlier in the week (due to travelling) but was expected back at Thorp Arch on Thursday and will start on the wing.



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[Scoobychief]

Sounds like we should walk this game. Would like to see this gnoto guy get at least 25 minutes so we can see what he's got. Should be a win for us. Depends on how we defend under pressure of course and if we manage NOT to allow coutinho to pull the strings in midfield

[YorkshireSquare]

Football! At last!

Need a decent result to turn around the pre-break form.

[Jaydog]

We seem pretty solid at home. So far.
And Villa have been poor away. Big game for both teams. Lose this and you could drop quite a few places over the weekend.

[Irish Ian]

Lets hope Jesses plan for Countiniho is an upgrade on giving him the freedom of Elland Road like we did last time.

Villa will copy Brentford in pressing themselves and then hit using the break.
Never mind Gnonto we need Rodrigo and Bamford firing.

[1964white]

We seem pretty solid at home. So far.
And Villa have been poor away. Big game for both teams. Lose this and you could drop quite a few places over the weekend.

We are unbeaten at home, Villa have lost all three of their away matches.

Oh dear, I've just put the mockers on us

[1964white]

Lets hope Jesses plan for Countiniho is an upgrade on giving him the freedom of Elland Road like we did last time.

Villa will copy Brentford in pressing themselves and then hit using the break.
Never mind Gnonto we need Rodrigo and Bamford firing.

Those two fire & we probably win the game, if not it could be a long evening.

[Jaydog]

We are unbeaten at home, Villa have lost all three of their away matches.

Oh dear, I've just put the mockers on us

[1964white]

Football! At last!

Need a decent result to turn around the pre-break form.

Indeed we do as we have two London pacy teams to contend with after Villa.

[The Subhuman]

4 weeks off, unlike Villa, we could be rusty

[The Subhuman]

Meslier
Ayling
Struijk
Adams
Koch
Cooper
Sinisterra
Roca
Bamford
Aaronson
Harrison

Klaesson
Lorentz
Kristensen
Klich
Forshaw
Rodrigo
Gnonto
Gelhardt
Firpo

[1964white]

4 weeks off, unlike Villa, we could be rusty

There again we could be fresh as a daisy

[Cjay]

May as well just give them the 3 points now

[1964white]

May as well just give them the 3 points now

Plus we are unbeaten at home, Villa have lost all three of their away matches.

[Lumiukko]

Hard one to call this. Anyone who thinks this is a routine win for us needs a reality check. I expect a testy and ugly game, likely a draw but if a win will be by 1 goal for either team.

Unlike last season, I think the added tenacity of Adams and Roca should give us a better check on Coutinho, though I do worry about the distance put into Adams' legs over the international break (at least he didn't need to travel far with the USA games being in Germany and Spain respectively). We do have to remember that they have other players who can do damage: Watkins, Ings, Ramsey, Buendia. On the plus side, looks like Mings will be a starter so hopefully he has 'one of those games' that he is susceptible to. A good ref will see him give a penalty away and at least a yellow. I think in just about every game he has played against us he has deserved a red.

For us, we need Bamford or Rodders (whoever starts) to hit the ground running. My team would match most:

Meslier
Ayling
Koch
Cooper
Struijk
Adams
Roca
Sinisterra
Harrison
Aaronson
Bamford

Subs:
Robles
Llorente
Kristensen
Firpo or Hjelde
Forshaw
Summerville
Rodrigo
Klich
Joffy
Gnonto

[velo]

We are unbeaten at home, Villa have lost all three of their away matches.

Oh dear, I've just put the mockers on us

We love to give struggling teams a boost, I just hope we get a decent ref, as no doubt Villa will be rolling screaming around every 30 seconds.Anyone want to predict how many head injuries their players will get/ fake?

[Kennyb41]

This is absolutely a routine win and we shouldn't be expecting anything less than 3pts.

We're fully fit and well rested.

We're at home with 36k plus fans.

We've got players battling for positions.

Villa are depleted with their most influential players this season injured.

How easier do you want it, stop making excuses already.

I've gone for 1-1.

[1964white]

We love to give struggling teams a boost, I just hope we get a decent ref, as no doubt Villa will be rolling screaming around every 30 seconds.Anyone want to predict how many head injuries their players will get/ fake?

One of the worse PL teams for rolling on the ground feigning injury, wasting time disrupting play by any means instigated by the cheating McGinn, Mings & Watkins, a horrible team!

[Irish Ian]

Stuart Attwell is the ref

He will have fond memories of the last time these teams met at Elland Road.

[White Riot]

One of the worse PL teams for rolling on the ground feigning injury, wasting time disrupting play by any means instigated by the cheating McGinn, Mings & Watkins, a horrible team!

That's them

And if the officials let them away with it then we need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to win.

When our aspirations are purely survival then we need to be looking to win our home matches, excluding the top six.

A solid defensive display would be a good foundation for success.