Leeds United will be without the influential Joe Rodon when they face Watford on Saturday.
Leeds United will be without Joe Rodon when they take on Watford this weekend, with the defender serving a one-match ban following his red card at Hull.
Joe Rodon to miss Leeds vs Watford
The Welsh international joined the Whites in the summer on a season-long loan from Tottenham, and it’s looking like a shrewd move by the Championship side, as Rodon has excelled in the first part of the campaign.
He has shown a willingness to defend, combined with quality on the ball that has helped Daniel Farke’s side start attacks, whilst his recovery pace has also impressed.
But Rodon received a red card in the 0-0 draw with Hull this week, for two yellow cards. While he had no complaints about the second, the first seemed harsh, upsetting some fans.
And, while speaking with FLW, fan expert Kris addressed the terrible decision, explaining how Rodon’s disappearance would be a problem for Farke.
“Rodon has played very well for us since his debut, and the circumstances of his sending off, coupled with his quality, are really disappointing.
“For the referee to not know what a cardable offense is was obviously a big shock for us, knowing how well he cooperated with Pascal Struijk.
“The lack of ball-playing right-sided players to cover for Rodon is a bit of a concern, because I don’t think Farke really trusts Charlie Cresswell, and having two left-footers there, Struijk and Liam Cooper, isn’t ideal.
“You could see in our first game of the season against Cardiff that Struijk really struggled to move the ball forward. He couldn’t play the ball out as he normally would, but for one game it’s not the end of the world, but not having Rodon definitely weakens us.”
Who will replace Joe Rodon?
As mentioned, there are two obvious choices for Farke above, with skipper Liam Cooper and Charlie Cresswell the options.
Kris has explained how Cresswell might bring more balance as a right-footer, but the reality is that it seems highly likely Cooper will be given the nod.
It was the Scotland international who came on when Leeds were reduced to ten in the week, and we know that Cooper is a reliable performer at this level. Plus, he brings that leadership which could be important.
Even though they are both good players at this level, Rodon has been superb in the past few weeks, so he will still be missed.
What next for Leeds?
Farke will be pleased with how his side navigated two tricky away games at Millwall and Hull, as they collected four points and kept two clean sheets.
Now, all attention is on Watford, and Leeds know that they need to start going on a positive run as they look to close the gap on the top two, with automatic promotion the aim.
Farke’s side are ninth at this early stage, two points away from the play-off places.
