Today marks Leeds United’s final game before the World Cup break commences and the Whites have been handed a tough draw as they travel to face Tottenham Hotspur.
Although on paper it seems like a tough fixture, Jesse Marsch’s side have cause for optimism as they have won two of their last three games including a dramatic victory at Anfield to beat Liverpool.
Admittedly, a lot of the success had this season has been against tougher opposition, with a win against Chelsea also under their belt, and an impressive display in their narrow loss to Arsenal too.
However, the Yorkshire outfit still remains just three points from the relegation zone despite sitting in a seemingly comfortable 12th.
Meanwhile, having also been dumped out of the cup in midweek, Spurs have lost three of their last four, with two of the defeats at home.
Despite overseeing a big overhaul in the summer, Marsch did leave certain positions rather bare despite earning a combined £100m fee from the sales of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips.
One area of concern that remains is at the heart of defence, where Robin Koch has continued to occupy despite his less-than-impressive performances, leading to his omission from Germany’s World Cup squad.
If they are to snatch victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Marsch must surely drop the German, in favour of someone who has shown form of being less culpable for making mistakes.
Having featured 13 times this season, he has been an ever-present feature in a defence that has conceded 22 goals, the fifth most in the division.
Signed for £11.5m, there was a belief that the hulking defender would transform a team renowned for leaking goals.
However, over the last season and a half, he has only contributed to the problem.
During their relegation-threatened campaign last year he endured a torrid run of form which saw him handed a 6.51 average SofaScore rating for the season.
It has not been that much better this season, at just 6.70, with his own goal against Leicester City a microcosm of his recent showings.
Even when they were playing well, during the 2020/21 season, the £46k-per-week ace drew criticism from pundit David Thompson who highlighted the “terrible game” he had.
Having lost six times whilst he has played this season, perhaps introducing someone like Diego Llorente might be a better option as it is clear that are worse off when Koch features.
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