Double player blow will cause major creative problem for Leeds United v Watford: View | OneFootball

Leeds United are top of the Championship and the form team in the division in 2024 as well, with league action back underway this Friday with an Easter weekend trip to Watford.

Daniel Farke's side entered this season among the favourites for promotion and are in the mix again but the run-in from Easter onwards is always the most critical period of the campaign, when it comes down to the crunch and fixtures come at you thick and fast.

The recent international break may have come at a bad time, with Leeds picking up 37 points from a possible 39 available since the turn of the year and Farke may perhaps have been keen to keep the good form and momentum going.

However, plenty of the Leeds squad may have been given a break for the 12 days after their win over Millwall, including players such as Georginio Rutter, with the club announcing that he had pulled out of Thierry Henry's France U-21 squad to have a minor operation on a hernia.

There's a very high chance that Rutter misses the game as his injury is likely to keep him out of action for around 10 days, which means he would be available to face the Hornets given the timescale. It is a huge blow given how vital he is to Leeds' team, especially in possession as a creative force.

He is potentially not the only blow for Daniel Farke, though, with Junior Firpo also likely to miss the game against Watford. Firpo's international allegiance switch has been confirmed with a first ever call up for the Dominican Republic. The ex-Barcelona man was born in Santo Domingo but moved to Malaga as a six-year-old and spent the rest of his youth in Spain, thus holding citizenship for both nations.

Four caps for Spain's U-21s came during his time at Real Betis, but he has been called up at the age of 27 for the first time to the Dominican Republic's senior team. They took on Aruba over the weekend and are set to face Peru on Wednesday, meaning he is set to fly back from South America to the UK on Thursday and may not return to Leeds' camp until shortly before their clash with Watford, and could miss out from the squad altogether.

During Leeds' tricky festive period, many sides learnt to deploy an aggressive out of possession mid-to-low-block, which restricted Leeds. This was seen to particularly good effect by Sunderland and Coventry City, who won 1-0 and drew 1-1 respectively, and frustrated Farke's side in terms of chance creation.

Leeds may have looked like getting back on track when they thumped Ipswich Town 4-0 at Elland Road just before Christmas, but came undone again away to both Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion in the next two fixtures; they may have lost those games narrowly, but it made it a win and draw in the last five for Farke and had Leeds fans worried heading into the New Year.

Patrick Bamford was then introduced to the team and helped improve the side immeasurably by freeing up Rutter to be at his best, continuing to be a creative player, but in a deeper role as one of the three behind the centre-forward. Whilst the 30-year-old can allow the team to get up the pitch with his intensity off the ball far more effective than the likes of Joel Piroe.

That pressing and ability to stretch the pitch is particularly crucial in away games, but Bamford also occupies players and acts as a focal point more than any other striker at the club, and has a habit of pulling players around with his intelligent movement as well. He has become a vital component to Farke's new set up and one of the main players during their uptick in form in 2024.

However, the Frenchman has been the main player transformed by the switch, becoming one of Leeds' key players in the process. He has been a revelation in attack at knitting play together and also drawing fouls to get the Whites up the pitch. His eye for a pass, as well as his ability to turn and dribble to evade pressure, makes him one of the most dynamic and threatening forwards in the league. The 21-year-old's skill-set is far more technical than most second tier players but he is the hub of their creativity and a magnet for the ball.

Firpo was one of the other big switches at the start of the year as well, having started just once during the first half of the campaign and 11 league games since then during Leeds' long unbeaten run. He will overlap, and, crucially, hold the width. He is able to do this as he plays on his strong foot, and is the only out-and-out left-footed full-back at the club, which opens up passing angles in build up and crossing opportunities in the final third.

Farke's solution

Many would think that, given the attacking options at the Whites' disposal, it seems unlikely they risk Firpo or Rutter in the encounter against Tom Cleverley's side with the risk of potentially losing him for the all important run-in. They have plenty of depth in those areas to field a strong side in the final third, albeit none are a like-for-like Rutter analogue.

That being said, Farke has an array of attacking talent at his disposal should Rutter be unavailable for the trip to Vicarage Road, Piroe could be the solution alongside Bamford as a front two, or Farke could move one of Crysencio Summerville or Willy Gnonto centrally, with Dan James then returning to his favoured right-wing role.

Gnonto has performed well as a second-striker during his time spent in Switzerland, and also for Italy's U-21 side as well during this international break. However, Farke will still be disappointed to be without the Frenchman who has more assists than any other second tier player this season.

The solution at left-back is much trickier to solve for Farke, with no other specialist left-footer in the squad. Sam Byram has operated there most often prior to Firpo making the shirt his own, whilst Archie Gray has briefly been seen there and could come into the side in that role if Connor Roberts is utilised at right-back.

None of them will get to the byline to cut the ball in low or cross it deeper and towards the back post, as Firpo has done to great effect, notching five assists in 2024 so far. It will leave them without two of their better players creatively, and also affects their out of possession shape to an extent as well.

With Bamford, Firpo, and Ilia Gruev coming into the side, Leeds have looked like a more traditional side player-for-player across the team, but the balance will definitely swing against Watford, which is not the time to be tinkering with a team as the thick of the run-in gets underway.