Leeds United central midfielder Ilia Gruev is on a run of starting 11 matches in a row in the Premier League, which is his best run of starts of the campaign.
An injury to Sean Longstaff, who is now back and available for selection, provided the Bulgaria international with an opportunity to nail down a place in Daniel Farke's side.
I Gruev
The former Newcastle United star has not started a game for the Whites since the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in November, before his injury, but he had been playing well up to that point.
Longstaff has created six 'big chances' and provided two assists in ten Premier League starts, and he may get another chance to showcase his quality from the start after Gruev's recent performances.
Why Ilia Gruev must be dropped by Leeds
The Bulgarian star has shown flashes of quality in his run of starts for Leeds, providing two assists in a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest last month.
Unfortunately, the ex-Werder Bremen midfielder has struggled in the last two games, against Manchester City and Aston Villa, losing 11 of his 15 ground duels and all four of his aerial battles, whilst committing six fouls.
The 25-year-old star also failed to create a single chance for his teammates in those two matches, which means that he was ineffective in and out of possession for Farke's side.
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Longstaff, meanwhile, has won 53% of his duels in the Premier League and created 1.3 chances per game on average since his move from the Magpies, suggesting that he could come back into the team to offer more quality than Gruev on a consistent basis.
The Championship title winner is not the only Leeds midfielder whose position is in a spot of bother, though, as there is another player who must never start again.
The Leeds player who must never start again
The step up to the Premier League was always going to leave some players by the wayside because of the step up in quality from the second tier, and that has, unfortunately, been the case with a few stars.
Ao Tanaka, for example, was a star player for the club in their 2024/25 title-winning season having signed for just £3m, starting 37 of his 43 Championship appearances, but he has struggled with the step up to the Premier League.
Ao-Tanaka-Leeds-Liverpool
As journalist James Marshment put it, "Declan Rice is a huge fan of Ao Tanaka". The Arsenal superstar said:
"There’s a guy at Leedshe’s an unbelievable player. I watch the Champ all the time, Leeds are a massive club. It’s good to have them back. He’s been their Player of the Season, he’s a really good player, really energetic, really good on the ball."
Declan-Rice-Arsenal
Unfortunately, the central midfielder has been unable to carry that level of performance, which led to high praise from Rice, over to the top-flight, which is why he has only started seven league matches.
In fact, Tanaka has not started a single match for the club in the Premier League since the turn of the year, and has not featured in any of the last five games.
|Tanaka in last 10 PL games|
|Game|Minutes|
|---|
|Man City (H)|0|
|Aston Villa (A)|0|
|Chelsea (A)|0|
|Forest (H)|0|
|Arsenal (H)|0|
|Everton (A)|24|
|Fulham (H)|9|
|Newcastle (A)|1|
|Man United (H)|10|
|Liverpool (A)|1|
The 27-year-old midfielder has fallen so far down the pecking order in Farke's thinking that he is behind Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach, Gruev, and Sean Longstaff for a central midfield place.
Tanaka has had his moment, scoring goals against Liverpool and Chelsea in December, but his general play in the Premier League has not been at the level that suggests that he should be a regular starter.
The Japanese star has lost 57% of his ground duels and 53% of his aerial battles across 20 league appearances, which shows that it has been too easy for opposition players to get the better of him in physical contests. Gruev, meanwhile, has won 50% of his ground duels and made 2.0 tackles and interceptions per game.
Tanaka's lack of physicality in the middle of the park means that he is not the right fit for a team that is fighting relegation and often playing against the ball to keep opposition teams at bay.
ao-tanaka-leeds
He has offered less to the side than Gruev, mainly due to his struggles off the ball, and must not start another Premier League game between now and the end of the season, because of how many players are between him and a starting spot in the team.
His lack of minutes may then force him to assess his future at Elland Road when the summer transfer window opens for business.
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