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da 888： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
There can’t be many Leeds players that divide opinion as much as striker Patrick Bamford does.
After failing to score against Barnsley, Leeds fans backed him and hailed his work rate. Yet, after drawing with Derby, comments made about the 26-year-old weren’t in his favour.
In fact, they were incredibly damning in light of a drawn game that Leeds should have won.
They had 13 chances to Derby’s five, had over 60% of the possession and also missed a penalty, via WhoScored.
But it was the performance in front of goal from Bamford that also had a large say in how the game went.
On the chalkboard
There has been rife debate surrounding Eddie Nketiah this season. Leeds fans want him to start and Marcelo Bielsa has teased the possibility of him playing alongside Bamford in attack.
The Arsenal loanee has started life in west Yorkshire in superb fashion. He’s scored as many goals as Bamford, despite only starting two times in the Carabao Cup.
He is yet to play from the off in the Championship but has thrived when being brought on from the bench, scoring two late goals against Brentford and Barnsley.
The 20-year-old has more than hit the ground running but given Bamford’s latest performances, he must be walking an extremely thin tight rope right now.
The latter worked hard to fashion chances for himself last weekend but he could have won the game for Leeds on Saturday.
There were a host of moments that proved telling, not least Mateusz Klich’s missed penalty, but Bamford hit the post and spurned four further opportunities.
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It’s something that tells the story of the 26-year-old’s campaign. He has scored four times but is now goalless in his last three matches.
Based on his abject display against the Rams, he must now be looking over his shoulder more than ever.
The 6 foot 1 striker has had four shots per game in 2019/20, the highest number of anyone in the Championship. Based on that, you’d expect him to have scored more goals but he’s missed the target entirely 17 times – also a league-high.
If Leeds are going to get promoted they’ll have to start taking their chances on a more regular basis. That begins with their number nine who is beginning to struggle quite significantly.
Perhaps it’s finally time to start Nketiah.