Leeds United travel to Manchester City this weekend hoping to spring a huge Premier League shock away to Pep Guardiola’s side.
Daniel Farke’s position at Leeds could not be weaker as he prepares for one of the toughest Premier League triple-headers you could ask for.
Manchester City are up first in that three-game stretch. An away visit to the Etihad sees Farke pitted against one of the best ever in Pep Guardiola.
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Manchester City team news confirmed: Leeds United’s rivals without Rodri again
As Man City’s form continues to go up and down, off the back of successive losses in league and Champions League, they need their talismanic midfielder Rodri back.
Rodri is ruled out as Leeds United face Manchester City. (REUTERS/Hannah Mckay)
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner hasn’t hit the same heights since his long-term ACL injury layoff, and is currently sidelined with ongoing hamstring troubles.
Guardiola confirmed that the Spaniard is ruled out against United, but isn’t too far away from a return. “Not yet. Not much further,” he said, via Man City.
Elsewhere, fellow midfielder Mateo Kovacic remains the only other absentee, sitting out until midway through next year due to an ankle problem.
Away from Rodri, the most obvious player to watch is Leeds-born superstar Erling Haaland. The Norwegian is unsurprisingly the runaway top scorer in the Premier League this season with 14 goals in 12 league appearances this season, amounting to 32 in 20 appearances for club and country this season.
Erling Haaland is looking to return to scoring ways as he faces Leeds United. (REUTERS/Phil Noble)
He didn’t find the net in Man City’s last league outing – a 2-1 loss to Newcastle. Consequently, he will be looking to make amends against the side he grew up following.
There’s a worry for City, though. Their reliance on Haaland finding the net is verging on being too strong, as Guardiola was asked about his influence.
“Not the main concern but in general the last game, we did many good things in the game, in defence and of course Erling is massively important but others are as well,”
Man City’s second-top scorer in the league this season is actually Burnley’s Maxime Esteve with two own goals. Everyone but Haaland for Man City have scored a maximum of one goal.
Can Leeds United find a way to keep Manchester City’s Erling Haaland quiet?
Of course, Man City’s attacking quality isn’t just limited to Haaland scoring bags of goals every week.
If you keep him quiet, there’s every chance Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Omar Marmoush, Bernando Silva and others could split our defence open.
That being said, keeping Haaland from scoring is the biggest and most important objective of the afternoon. And, the question is: how on earth do we manage that?
Firstly, we’ve got to restrict space for him to run into. His ability to run in behind is unstoppable when he gets going. Beyond that, crossing supply has to be limited – which is a weakness of ours at the moment.
A lot of luck is required too. But, if Leeds can frustrate Man City in open play, and suffocate Haaland’s supply, there’s a slim chance of getting a result here.
Emphasis on ‘slim’, there.
Read more: My Manchester City v Leeds United predicted XI.