Leeds United travel away from West Yorkshire and Elland Road to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League this afternoon.
The Whites are looking to win back-to-back matches in the Premier League for the first time this season, after they beat West Ham United in their last outing.
Daniel Farke’s side won, thanks to goals from Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon, and Anton Stach did not play a single minute of the match at Elland Road.
Why Leeds should unleash Anton Stach
Despite beating the Hammers, Leeds can improve on their performance from last time out because they failed to put the game out of sight for the away side, which led to a nervy ending when they pulled a goal back.
After Rodon’s goal, the Whites did not create a single chance that was worth more than 0.14 xG, per Sofascore, and they allowed West Ham to get back into the game, albeit they were able to hang on for all three points.
Stach, who did not get on the pitch, has proven that he can provide a threat at the top end of the pitch from a midfield position, with one goal, 1.8 key passes per game, and two ‘big chances’ created in eight appearances, per Sofascore.
The summer signing from Hoffenheim has shown that he can be a difference-maker with his individual quality, which could help Leeds to capitalise on a shaky Brighton defence that has conceded 15 goals in the Premier League.
In order to bring Stach into the starting line-up, though, Farke would have to ruthlessly ditch Ao Tanaka, whose performances he has recently defended.
Why Leeds should drop Ao Tanaka
After the win over West Ham, the Japan international stated that he is “not good enough at the moment” and that he will be using these experiences to improve as a player.
Asked about Tanaka’s honest admission, Farke said: “He had a really good start to the season with us. I didn’t expect him to be man of the match [vs West Ham], being in his first match after injury back in the starting line up, but I think he was quite solid and showed a really, really good performance.”
In spite of his defence of the central midfielder’s comments and performance, the German head coach should drop the midfield maestro from the XI because Stach may be able to offer more quality against Brighton.
|
25/26 Premier League |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
7 |
8 |
|
xG |
0.16 |
0.79 |
|
Goals |
0 |
1 |
|
Key passes per game |
0.6 |
1.8 |
|
Big chances created |
0 |
2 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
18% |
52% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
43% |
77% |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
0.7 |
2.3 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
||
As you can see in the table above, Tanaka has struggled to influence games in the Premier League this season, as he has offered little in the final third whilst being dominated by opposition players physically.
The Japanese midfielder is seemingly still adjusting to the step up from the Championship, which is understandable, but Stach has shown that he can make an impact offensively and hold his own defensively in his eight starts in the division.
Given Brighton’s defensive struggles this season, conceding 15 goals in nine games, it could be the right time to bring the German central midfielder back into the starting line-up to give the Whites the best chance of causing their defence problems.
Therefore, Farke should ruthlessly drop Tanaka from the XI, despite his defence of the midfielder’s display against West Ham, because it may improve the team’s chances of winning this afternoon, given the context of the opposition.
