"Should not be really far behind " - Leeds United goalscoring prediction issued involving Piroe & Mateo Joseph | OneFootball

FLW's Leeds United fan pundit assesses the club's striking options for 2024/25.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Daniel Farke has a decision to make this summer on who his starting striker is this summer, with Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph impressing in pre-season and Patrick Bamford still having a part to play in 2024/25.

Leeds find themselves in a difficult position with their strikers this summer, and it's unclear who will be the number-nine in the long-run. The spot is up for grabs, but Piroe and Joseph have not harmed their chances after an impressive pre-season campaign.

Piroe and Joseph have come alive in pre-season, scoring the majority of the Whites' goals prior to their final game against Valencia at Elland Road.

Piroe is a terrific goalscorer at this level, but there are question marks surrounding his all-round game as a leading striker at the spearhead of the attack, especially without the right player profiles and intensity around him.

Meanwhile, Bamford has a patchy fitness record and that could hand Joseph the chance to push for the starting striker role.

Leeds United prediction issued on Joel Piroe v Mateo Joseph goalscoring battle

FLW’s Leeds United fan pundit Kris Smith is hopeful Leeds' strikers can push each other on next season, but expects the primary source of goals to come from Piroe in 2024/25.

Kris told Football League World: "It is hard to say who comes out on top of the goalscoring charts for us this season.

"It's between Piroe and Joseph. They are the two forwards that are going to be starting the most games.

"They have really looked sharp in pre-season. Out of the two of them? My head goes to Piroe straight away. "He's the goalscorer that fans have been crying out for, even though he wasn't great last season. "He ended up with 14 goals and three assists, which is still a solid return after he was benched for a lot of the second half of the season. "Having said that, Joseph should not be really far behind in terms of the quality of finishing, or how Farke looks at it. "Piroe will be on penalties whenever he is playing, and his chief role in the team is just to be sticking the ball in the back of the net. "Rather than doing all the leg work that strikers like Joseph and Bamford have to be doing, the focus when Piroe is on the pitch is scoring. "That stands him in good stead for a strong return. We're going to be dominating a lot of games and that should help, too.

"Overall, though, it's good to see that we have got two strikers there that you could easily back to hit 15-20 goals with the right amount of minutes."

Daniel Farke has a Leeds United centre-forward dilemma

There's perhaps a line of argument that Joseph found himself underutilised by Farke last season because of the youthfulness of Leeds' forward line last season, which included players such as Willy Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville, and Georginion Rutter - all of whom are aged under 23.

He has showcased his quality as an all-round striker in flashes, especially in that FA Cup game at Stamford Bridge. Piroe does not suit playing as a lone focal point up front, as he lacks the skill-set for holding the ball up and leading the line.

But, inarguably, with the right players around him, he could score a number of goals at this level. His finishing is a level above every other player in the first-team squad.

The pre-season form of both will have given Farke plenty of food for thought in terms of the centre-forward pecking order and even over the idea of getting both in the team at different points in the season. Competition for places is rarely ever a bad thing for a club, though.