Leeds United travel down to North London this evening to take on title hopefuls Arsenal at the Emirates, and there are changes for Daniel Farke to consider.
Leeds’ next Premier League fixture is a wildly contrasting meeting to their home win against Everton, where they were afforded plenty of possession and control of the match, now heading to the Emirates against one of the best in the division in Arsenal.
Daniel Farke’s side won’t be fancied to get anything out of this weekend’s game, but the German has to set his team up well to soak up pressure and then be ruthless when the opportunities come.
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Lukas Nmecha stakes his claim to wrestle starting spot from Joel Piroe in Leeds United attack
Throughout the win against Everton, Leeds didn’t exactly give Jordan Pickford a great deal to worry about until a controversial penalty gifted substitute Lukas Nmecha the perfect chance to open his Elland Road account.
An ice cold penalty then secured Leeds’ first three points back in the Premier League, and the free agent signing was delighted to have announced himself back in the UK after years out in Belgium and Germany following a lack of opportunities at Manchester City.
Lukas Nmecha oozed confidence as he rolled home the winner for Leeds United with his third touch since coming off the bench. (Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough)
“I would say I’m very blessed. I thank God that I’m playing again,” Nmecha told Sky Sports post-match. “I think I had a lot of problems with injuries coming from the City academy, yeah. I’ve been playing in Germany for a long time now, four seasons long, but unfortunately been out.
“But I love that time and I’m just looking to show my performances, to show what I can do and, yeah, I’m really happy for today.”
Presenter Dave Jones then noted Nmecha’s mere 16 minutes of league action while at Man City, asking if he feels confident in his own abilities to prove he deserves to be a Premier League player.
“I think as a, as a striker, as a player, you have to have that mindset,” Nmecha continued. “I’m definitely confident. I feel like if it wasn’t for some circumstances, I would’ve maybe got here earlier. But definitely, yeah, early doors it’s a penalty goal, hopefully I can do a lot more this season.
“I think definitely at home. We have amazing fans that were very loud in here, electric. I don’t think I’ve felt something like this before. I think in the way we played, we played very mature for a side that’s just come up.
“When we went one-nil up, we slowed the game down, got our free kicks and stuff like that. But yeah, definitely in the game, I think we controlled a lot of the game.”
Daniel Farke has to unleash Lukas Nmecha against Arsenal for his full Leeds United debut
As useful as Joel Piroe’s finishing will be to Leeds during this season, the trip to Arsenal simply has to see Nmecha start for the first time.
Nmecha didn’t have a great deal to do other than be a nuisance once Leeds were in the lead, but it was the perfect cameo after he slotted in the penalty.
He allowed Leeds to clear their lines much more effectively, plucking the ball out of the air late on with James Tarkowski climbing over his back, then driving to the corner and smartly winning a foul that all but confirmed Leeds’ win, as he alluded to in the above interview about ‘slowing the game down’.
There’s going to have to be a lot of that against Arsenal this evening, knowing how little of the ball we’re likely to see, and it requires a focal point to drag the side up the field under pressure, something Nmecha has demonstrated well in pre-season and this debut, while that hasn’t been where Piroe’s strengths lie.
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