Leeds United take on Ipswich Town this weekend knowing that anything but a fantastic performance won’t be enough to complete the double over the Tractor Boys.
The Whites’ biggest match of the season will take place at home against Ipswich Town, who are currently in second position, just before Christmas.
Since Leeds defeated Kieran McKenna’s team in late August to earn their first league victory of the season, a lot has changed in the Championship, but the recently promoted team’s performances haven’t—they’ve been unstoppable ever since.
All four of Leeds’ starting players scored in the team’s thrilling 4-3 victory at Portman Road back in August: Georginio Rutter, Willy Gnonto, Joel Piroe, and Luis Sinisterra.
Since then, Leeds has lost Sinisterra to Bournemouth, but they have also got access to Crysencio Summerville, who has scored 10 goals and provided six assists so far this season.
Nonetheless, Ipswich has continued their recent success from League One, and going into this match, they lead the Whites by ten points.
They enter this match as the Championship’s best team, having accumulated 43 points—six more than Leeds—since that encounter.
What Piroe does in Leeds games when he isn’t scoring goals or often missing opportunities is a constant source of worry for Leeds.
In his 19 appearances for Leeds thus far, he has eight goals and one assist, one of which came from the penalty spot. His performances in the games in which he hasn’t found the net have been mainly forgettable.
Farke has already attempted, with varying degrees of success, to counteract Piroe’s difficulties in pressing high by forcing Glen Kamara into the front line of the press.
Shifting the midfield out of possession like this could be problematic against a team as skilled at building plays as Ipswich, but it could also be problematic with Piroe playing such a significant part.
The 20-year-old has worked under Jesse Marsch, who implemented a counter-pressing method that was so effective that the American failed to refine other aspects of the offensive setup.
Gnonto has shown patience in waiting for his chance to start, and as Dan James is still a fantastic player against the ball, he will undoubtedly start. However, Leeds could use a whole 11 playing as a cohesive one, with Piroe frequently being the obvious weak link in that regard—a weakness Ipswich would take advantage of.
