Leeds United face the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final with Norwich City on Thursday.
The Whites will head into the game at Elland Road as the favourites having come away from Norfolk with a 0-0 draw, in an extremely cagey affair.
Neither side were able to create anything in the way of clear-cut chances with just three shots on target apiece, none of which in any way troubled either goalkeeper.
With the tactical change Daniel Farke made of bringing an extra midfielder in for the first time all season, clearly he was happy to come away with a draw and bank on home advantage for the second leg.
However, Leeds will have to be considerably more attacking at Elland Road and so it would not be a surprise if he reverts back to what he has done all season. Who comes in, remains to be seen.
Why Mateo Joseph can be Leeds’ secret weapon on Thursday
Farke’s tactical change saw Archie Gray come into the number 10 role, with Georginio Rutter leading the line for the first time since before the turn of the New Year.
Though clearly it worked in terms of stopping Norwich playing out from the back, neither were particularly effective in possession.
Leeds fans were not impressed with Rutter’s performance, while Farke had words with Gray on the pitch at full-time. More will be needed in that area in the second leg.
Norwich conceded 62 goals in their 46 Championship matches and with an ageing centre-back pairing of Shane Duffy and Ben Gibson, getting in behind is a clear area that can be targeted.
Leeds managed to do that just once on Sunday which led to a controversially disallowed goal for Junior Firpo. Clearly there is success to be had.
Farke will be without Patrick Bamford once again for the second leg, and Leeds need someone who can offer what he does off the ball.
Of Farke’s first team squad, Mateo Joseph is literally the only player who can replicate that, but with considerably more pace than the 30-year-old.
Frustratingly, Joseph was not used at all in the first leg and during the two regular season matches against Norwich, he got just one minute.
The £900k Spaniard will be an unknown quantity to that Norwich backline and whether from the start, or a decent amount of minutes from the bench, he can be the secret weapon that wins the game.
Jon Newsome says Joseph should feel ‘aggrieved’
Despite a number of sub-par performances when leading the line lately, Joel Piroe has often been preferred ahead of Joseph.
When replacing the ineffective Rutter, it was the same story on Sunday with Piroe once again brought on ahead of him, to offer nothing.
Joseph has come off the bench on so many occasions to good effect in the last few months and speaking on Sunday, pundit Jon Newsome believes he has every right to feel ‘aggrieved’ at his lack of action.
He said: “I agree with the guy who’s just messaged in, if you’re good enough you’re old enough. I think and I said it last week, he’s the one in the squad who should feel really aggrieved.
“He’s put some real effort in this season, he’s put some good performances in, scored a few goals and done everything that’s been asked of him. But when the opportunity has been there to play him, it’s been bypassed. That’s not his fault, that’s the decision of the manager.”
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