Georginio Rutter could be rested for Leeds United’s match against Watford today.
Leeds United may err on the side of caution when it comes to playing Georginio Rutter today, as the young Frenchman had hernia surgery during the international break and may be deemed too fragile to start away to Watford as a result.
Regardless, the Whites should have enough explosive talent at their disposal to defeat a Watford side being led on an interim basis by Tom Cleverley, with the Hornets recently sacking Valerien Ismael as manager.
Daniel Farke may decide to chop and shift his starting XI not only to accommodate Rutter’s absence, but also because Daniel James is clamouring for a spot back in his manager’s team after a lively cameo against Millwall the previous game.
Daniel James’ performance against Millwall in numbers.
James’ late strike from the bench meant Leeds avoided any late concerns at Elland Road against Neil Harris’ away team, eventually winning 2-0.
But it wasn’t simply his strike that stood out throughout his memorable 21 minutes on the pitch.
When James replaced Wilfried Gnonto, he managed to make two vital passes out of six attempts, as well as hit the woodwork with another effort to nearly hand himself a brace in such a short period of time.
With Gnonto failing to impress against the Lions aside from his blazing strike that started the scoring, it becomes a no-brainer to give James a start away at Watford.
The ex-FC Zurich midfielder would only have 31 touches in the 2-0 win, eight fewer than Whites goalkeeper Illan Meslier, and may be benched in favour of James, who could put in a lightning-quick shift against Watford to catch the Hornets off guard.
Joel Piroe, who has starred in patches for his title-chasing team this season, might possibly be brought into Farke’s XI for the trip to Hertfordshire.
Joel Piroe could become Georginio Rutter’s replacement.
If Rutter is instructed to sit out the trip to Vicarage Road, Farke could do far worse than returning Piroe to the first team in his place.
Surprisingly, despite having 11 goals this season and being dubbed “clinical” by football journalist Josh Bunting, the 6 foot 1 forward has recently found himself out of his manager’s first-team plans as Patrick Bamford has regained his form.
Despite his goal record indicating that he is more of a prolific striker than a number ten, Piroe has flourished in this role behind the striker for Farke’s team this season, moving away from being solely a traditional centre-forward presence.
One of the last occasions the Dutchman played in this aggressive midfield position was against Ipswich Town in December, when Piroe scored twice in a 4-0 thrashing of Kieran McKenna’s side.
Aside from that strike, Piroe was composed and measured on the ball at points, with one vital pass resulting in the big win.
| Joel Piroe’s stats by position this season – 2023/24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Games played | Goals | Assists |
| CAM | 21 | 8 | 1 |
| ST | 10 | 4 | 1 |
| SS | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
According to the table above, despite spending 74 of his 96 games as a striker at former club Swansea, the £15k-per-week man thrives in a more creative role for Farke’s side.
With the season approaching a number of critical games, every player will need to be at their peak for the run-in, which may prompt Farke to make changes to keep his excellent Whites side fit and ready to return to the Premier League.
