Journalist Beren Cross believes Leeds United defender Junior Firpo won’t start in the club’s next game as it would be too much of a risk.
What’s the word?
The Whites are back in Premier League action this Sunday as they take on Nottingham Forest away from home. With both teams hoping to avoid relegation this season, it could be an interesting watch.
Coming into the game, only two places and three points separate the teams, so a win for Jesse Marsch’s side would bring them level with their opponents in the English top flight.
Firpo has started just one league game up to this point in the current campaign, but he has started all three FA Cup matches that were played in January, so he may feel as though he is ready to come into the team.
However, while writing for LeedsLive about who could start on the weekend, Cross said: “Junior Firpo was a close call after his FA Cup renaissance, but this match feels too big a risk for the Dominican, who could yet be a weak link still.”
Big call
January wasn’t a great month for Pascal Struijk, who has been playing at left-back for Leeds recently. Indeed, in a previous article for LeedsLive, Cross handed him a 3/10 player rating after the Whites’ loss to Aston Villa, while also noting a drop-off in form before that poor display.
He wrote: “Seems to have had the ability sucked out of him in the space of a week. Errors at Cardiff City fed into low confidence at Villa Park where Bailey routinely exposed him as a centre-back playing out of position.”
Firpo, on the other hand, was able to provide a steady performance in his most recent FA Cup display – albeit against League One opposition in Accrington Stanley – helping the Whites progress into the next round of the competition by winning 5/8 ground duels, creating two key passes, winning two fouls, and making two tackles (via Sofascore).
With Struijk struggling, Marsch may soon look to Firpo as an alternative. This weekend, however, may come just a little too soon for the Dominican.
Of course, Max Wober can also play at left-back, so the new signing may also get a chance to prove his value by stepping up at the City Ground.
