da betano casino： Leeds United continued their fine start to the 2023/24 campaign as they beat Plymouth Argyle 2-1 in the Championship at Elland Road on Saturday.
da gbg bet： The Whites have now won nine and lost three of their opening 16 league matches this term and head into the November international break in third place.
Leicester and Ipswich currently occupy the automatic promotion places and they are both eight points clear of Daniel Farke's side, although the Foxes have lost their last two games – one of which was to Leeds.
The Yorkshire-based outfit were relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season and have quickly adapted to life back in the second tier as they compete for promotion back to the top-flight at the first attempt.
Farke was backed during the summer transfer window as Joel Piroe, Sam Byram, Karl Darlow, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev, Jaidon Anthony, Joe Rodon, Djed Spence, and Glen Kamara were all brought in, either on loan or permanently.
Byram, in particular, has been an impressive addition since he joined from Championship rivals Norwich City on a free transfer after his contract expired at Carrow Road.
However, the English defender is now set for a spell on the sidelines after he suffered an injury during the win over Plymouth on Saturday.
Latest on Sam Byram's injury
The Whites full-back felt pain in his hamstring after an attempted sprint and needed to be substituted during the second half of the 2-1 victory.
Farke has since confirmed that Byram has a hamstring strain and is now 'likely' to be unavailable for selection when Leeds face Rotherham on a Friday night later this month, after the international break.
However, Yorkshire Evening Post's Graham Smyth has revealed that the club do not believe that it is a serious blow for the academy graduate. It has been said that they are expecting the defender to miss weeks of action rather than months.
Although, there may be some concerns as the 30-year-old ace previously missed a staggering 40 competitive matches for Norwich with a hamstring injury between 2020 and 2021.
2016
Muscle
Five
2016-2017
Hamstring
17
2017-2018
Hamstring
15
2018
Ankle
Two
2018-2019
Knee surgery
39
2020-2021
Hamstring
40
Leeds will now hope that there are no further complications in his recovery and that he will be back and available for Championship football sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, however, Farke must finally unleash Junior Firpo from the start to fill in at left-back whilst Byram spends time on the sidelines with his issue.
Firpo's performance against Plymouth in numbers
The former Barcelona man was called into action in the 54th minute of the match and produced a bright display off the bench to help his side to claim all three points.
He showcased his defensive prowess by winning 100% (3/3) of his ground duels and one of his two aerial battles across 36 minutes on the pitch.
Firpo made one clearance, one interception, and two tackles, whilst no opposition players were able to dribble past him during his cameo for the Whites.
These statistics show that he made solid contributions to Leeds' efforts to keep Plymouth at bay in order to hold on for the 2-1 win, as the left-back was dominant in his duels and made defensive interventions to cut out attacks.
His work in possession was not perfect, though, as Firpo only completed 71% (15/21) of his attempted passes and did not create a single chance for his teammates at the top end of the pitch.
The 27-year-old battler will need to step up as Byram has been in impressive form throughout the Championship campaign so far as an excellent defensive option at left-back, despite being right-footed.
Byram's statistics this season
Since his switch from Carrow Road, the experienced enforcer has featured in 15 league matches for the club and started 13 times at the back.
Of players to have started at least one league match, Byram ranks within the top five performers for tackles (1.7), interceptions (1.4), and clearances (1.7) per match for Leeds.
In fact, only Ampadu (1.6) has made more interceptions per outing for the Whites than the full-back and this illustrates how impressive the defender has been throughout the season so far as he has been able to consistently cut out opposition attacks with his reading of the game.
Byram, who has won 50% of his duels, has also chipped in with one goal and one assist, along with a pass success rate of 81% across his 15 matches.
He has been a reliable defensive option, as evidenced by his aforementioned statistics in comparison to his teammates, and has been a solid, albeit not spectacular, player in possession.
It is now down to Firpo to step up and prove that he can shine at Championship level after a difficult season in the Premier League last term.
Firpo's 2022/23 season in numbers
The £55k-per-week battler struggled at times in the top-flight and was unable to help his team to avoid relegation down to the second tier earlier this year.
He was dribbled past 1.2 times per game – the joint-fourth most within the squad – and this shows that opposition players were able to take the ball past him far too frequently.
However, Firpo did show some signs of quality as the defender ranked third out of his teammates – with at least two appearances – for tackles (2.5) per game.
The 27-year-old gem made 3.8 tackles and interceptions per match in total across 19 appearances, whilst Byram has made 3.1 per clash this season.
His passing was an issue as the left-back only completed 73% of his attempted passes in the Premier League, which placed him 16th among his teammates.
This was also a problem with his cameo against Plymouth and it is, therefore, something that Farke will need to work on with him to improve over the coming weeks and months to ensure that his inconsistent play on the ball does not cost the Whites.
Firpo, who journalist Josh Bunting once hailed as "aggressive", now has an opportunity to stake a claim for a starting spot whilst Byram is out and must put in an improved display against Rotherham in order to convince the manager that he deserves more game time.
The Leeds number three is yet to start a Championship match and the German tactician must finally unleash him after the international break in place of the injured Englishman.