New crisis: £15m double blow for Leeds United virtually certain in near future – View
Leeds United have an international break between now and their meeting with Sheffield United next week, and they have two players on the verge of a yellow card suspension.
Leeds should have been looking at the international break with real optimism of establishing their dominance over the division, level on points at the top of the table.
However, a costly moment in the dying moments against Sunderland means they could only manage a draw against the side top of the league – as attention shifts towards a looming clash against Sheffield United on the other side of the international break.
Leeds’ biggest test yet after international break v unbeaten Sheffield United
Having outplayed Sunderland for the majority of that game on Friday, Leeds should be taking confidence into their next meeting.
Up next, they face the other side currently sat on 19 points, Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United – who would be two points better off on their own at the top if not for a EFL-imposed two point deduction to start their campaign post-relegation.
The Blades are the only unbeaten side in the EFL as things stand after their comfortable 2-0 win over Luton Town at the weekend, thanks to a birthday brace from previous Leeds target Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.
Their unbeaten run includes an impressive six successive clean sheets, having not conceded a goal since their 1-1 draw with Norwich City – facing four of the bottom six so far.
Leeds face suspension tightrope on Joe Rodon and Jayden Bogle ahead of Blades visit
Yellow cards for both Joe Rodon and Jayden Bogle on Friday against Sunderland mean that they both now sit on four for the season already.
What that means heading into arguably Leeds’ toughest test yet is that they are one booking away from a one-match suspension.
The £15million duo signed permanently in the summer have started every game this season, but could be looking at sitting out very soon.
EFL rules stipulate that the five yellow card ruling for a one-match ban expires once game 19 of the season has been completed – meaning Bogle and Rodon have 10 games to avoid a booking to see the threshold then move to 10 cautions.
Given Bogle and Rodon have accumulated four bookings in nine outings thus far, it seems incredibly likely that we’ll see both slapped with a one-match ban.
With Max Wöber out for another five weeks, plus Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev sitting out for the foreseeable – Daniel Farke could be looking at another defensive crisis soon.
