Leeds United can bounce back to winning ways as they return to Championship action at Elland Road tonight with a clash against Sunderland.
The Whites head into this match off the back of a 2-1 defeat away to Coventry City at the CBS Arena on Saturday, which has left the side in third place in the division.
A win would have left the Yorkshire-based outfit top of the table, having played one more game than Leicester and the same number as Ipswich, but they now have to play catchup with their rivals in order to secure automatic promotion.
Goals from Ellis Simms and Haji Wright landed all three points for Mark Robins' men at the weekend, and Daniel Farke could now look to make some changes to his starting XI from that defeat to freshen his team up against the Black Cats.
After Saturday's loss, FFC urged the German head coach to drop Patrick Bamford, who has struggled in recent games, to the bench but the former Norwich boss must also ruthlessly ditch Glen Kamara from the lineup.
Patrick Bamford's struggles in front of goal
The former England international has hit a rough patch of form in recent weeks and has let the team down at times with his wasteful finishing.
Farke hailed the distance Bamford ran against Coventry to help the side in and out of possession with his pressing and his runs in the channels and in behind.
However, the 30-year-old striker needs to produce quality in the final third alongside that work rate to ensure that Leeds pick up vital points in their attempts to win automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Over the last four matches, the left-footed dud has not been directly involved in any goals – with zero goals and zero assists – and has missed three 'big chances'.
His teammates provided him with 1.34 xG worth of chances in front of goal over those four outings, yet he was still unable to find the back of the net.
The Leeds forward, who has produced one goal and zero assists in his last six league appearances for the club, must now be ditched from the starting XI, and FFC selected Mateo Joseph as his replacement in a predicted XI for the clash with Sunderland.
As well as Bamford, Farke must ruthlessly ditch Kamara from the team after his poor display against Coventry last weekend, which was a far cry from his average performance level in the Championship this season.
Glen Kamara's season in numbers
Signed from Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers on a permanent deal last summer, the experienced midfielder has been a metronomic figure in the middle of the park for the German boss so far this season.
He has provided reliability and quality in possession to keep things ticking in midfield for Leeds, whilst also having the strength and awareness to be a solid presence off the ball to keep the ball out at the other end.
As you can see in the chart below, Kamara ranks within the top 2% of Championship midfielders for pass success rate (92.4%), and the top 6% for progressive passes (7.02) per 90.
These statistics show that there are not many better than the Finnish star when it comes to retaining and progressing possession with passes, as he rarely gives the ball away and constantly looks to play forward to move his team up the pitch.
Kamara, who has averaged 1.1 key passes per game and racked up three assists, has also been strong off the ball with 2.0 combined tackles and interceptions per match and a duel success rate of 58% across 33 league outings.
This shows that the 28-year-old whiz has come out on top in the majority of his physical battles with opposition players throughout the Championship season so far.
Overall, the Whites midfielder has been a fantastic presence in and out of possession in the middle of the park over the course of the campaign, but his best qualities were not on display in the defeat to Coventry on Saturday.
Why Glen Kamara should be ditched from the XI
After the match, Farke revealed that Kamara has been "suffering" with an illness and that his energy levels were not where he wanted them to be during the first-half.
The German boss claimed that he wanted more energy and intensity from his players during the second-half, and that is why the Finland international was brought off the pitch at the break and replaced by Connor Roberts.
Sofascore rating
6.7
7.08
Pass accuracy
88%
93%
Key passes
0
1.1
Duels won
2
3.4
Tackles + interceptions
1
2.0
Long ball accuracy
0%
72%
As you can see in the table above, his display against Coventry was off the pace in comparison to his average performance level in and out of possession.
Kamara did not provide any creativity to help his team to open up the opposition defence, with zero key passes and zero long balls completed, and only won two duels off the ball to win possession back for the Whites.
As Farke explained, the Finnish star has been suffering with an illness of late and did not have the energy required to produce a quality performance at the CBS Arena.
With this in mind, and Leeds playing tonight and then again on Saturday in the early kick-off against Blackburn Rovers, the manager must drop him to the bench to avoid another fatigued showing.
Farke could bring Connor Roberts back into the starting XI to lineup at right-back, and this would then free up 18-year-old starlet Archie Gray to be deployed in midfield next to Ilia Gruev, which would allow the boss to ditch Kamara.
Leeds should not want a repeat of his poor display last time out against Coventry, and that is why the £26k-per-week dynamo should be ditched for this clash with the Black Cats.
It would provide him with an opportunity to rest and fully recover from his illness, hopefully, to then be back and ready to start again against Blackburn, unless Gray does enough alongside Gruev to keep his place in midfield.
