Leeds United will be looking to bounce back to winning ways in the Championship this weekend when Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle visit, having been left wanting more in their previous encounter away at Bristol City.
The goal-shy Whites had to settle for a 0-0 draw against Liam Manning’s Robins, despite making 17 attempts on the busy home goal, and Elland Road fans are now concerned that more blanks may be fired against the Pilgrims.
The challenge ahead of Daniel Farke’s team will be made more difficult by the absence of Largie Ramazani from this match due to an injury. The Belgian winger had been a standout performer for Leeds this season before injury struck recently.
Leeds’ best performers this season in attack
Before suffering an early injury at home to Watford in October, Ramazani was making ripples in the first team ranks at the promotion-chasing club, with three promising goals in eight Championship games.
His replacement in Manor Solomon for the game against the Hornets hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in his place, with only one on-target effort against Watford, resulting in Farke handing him only 19 minutes of involvement off the bench in Bristol.
Farke will also be hoping Mateo Joseph finds his shooting boots again tomorrow when he faces Plymouth, as the Spanish striker has been inconsistent recently, except from scoring a big goal against Sheffield United in the middle of the month to secure a 2-0 victory.
That was only the Leeds academy product’s second goal of the season, but there will be high hopes that he can be the driving force the Whites need in their promotion push, having already provided three assists.
There are already whispers that Leeds are seeking to bring in more attackers shortly, with the possibility of the second-tier club bringing in some loanees this January if necessary, with this former Whites loan player seeing his transfer worth skyrocket since leaving Elland Road behind.
Eddie Nketiah’s value since leaving Leeds
Eddie Nketiah has a Championship winners medal among his career honors, having started out as a promising young attacker at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa.
The humble 5 foot 9 forward would score five goals in 19 appearances for the Whites, eventually winning the second division title at the end of the eventful 2019/20 season alongside Leeds greats Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford.
Nketiah’s Career Goal Record
Club played for
Games played
Goals scored.
Assists
Leeds
19
5
1
Arsenal
168
38
7
Crystal Palace
7
1
0
Sourced via Transfermarkt.
Nketiah, who was only worth roughly £6.7 million when he first joined the Whites, used this formative loan swap to propel himself into the main first-team fold at Arsenal, where the London-born striker went on to make 168 appearances and score 38 goals.
He may not have lived up to all of the hype that surrounds him as a teenager at the Emirates, with journalist James Olley calling Nketiah as “remarkable” in 2017, when he was first predicted for stardom, but his value would skyrocket from the £6.7 million he was previously worth.
As of May this year, Transfermarkt calculated that the new Crystal Palace number nine was worth a much greater £25 million, not far off the £30 million the Eagles paid to sign him a few months later.
Using the £25 million figure, that is a 257% increase in the value he was once worth when he first entered the building at Leeds, with the 25-year-old hoping to make a name for himself at Selhurst Park away from his boyhood employers, but he has only scored one goal in South London so far.
Leeds will be hoping that their own problems in front of goal improve quickly, else the promotion hopes may be busy in January recruiting extra firepower.
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