Leeds United face Nottingham Forest next Sunday and simply cannot afford a defeat. The pressure is on Daniel Farke and he must make one crucial change to his starting XI.
It was an atrocious day on the south coast for Leeds United on Saturday, as they were dismantled 3-0 by Brighton in a shocking performance.
Danny Welbeck notched the opener after just 11 minutes, with it becoming very clear very early that Leeds were in serious trouble.
Noah Okafor did try to inspire a comeback but the Whites never really troubled Brighton, who cruised to victory with a quick-fire brace from Diego Gomez in the second half.
There were dreadful showings from Gabriel Gudmundsson, Ethan Ampadu and Brenden Aaronson, but Daniel Farke has also come in for a big share of the blame.
Farke got his tactics completely wrong as his side sat back instead of pressing, leaving them sitting ducks, with some Leeds fans calling for the manager to be sacked as a result.
The pressure is certainly on Farke, and with a trip to 18th-placed Nottingham Forest coming up next weekend before the November international break, the manager simply can’t afford to lose, or he might lose his job as well.
Leeds need to win in the Midlands, and Farke must bring Pascal Struijk back into the side to help achieve it.
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Pascal Struijk has to replace Jaka Bijol for Nottingham Forest fixture
Many expected Struijk to lose his place in the side following the £15m arrival of Jaka Bijol in the summer, but with the Slovenian signing suspended for the opening game, the door was open for Struijk to start.
The Dutchman performed above expectations in the Premier League, not putting a foot wrong in Leeds’ decent start. So much so that it was Bijol who couldn’t get a look in.
However, Struijk did make a couple of errors in the loss to Tottenham and when that was followed up with a stinging defeat at Burnley, Bijol finally came into the fold.
Yet, the big defender has not had a promising start. Whether it be nerves or rustiness, Bijol has looked clumsy on the ball, poor at reading the game and remarkably slow.
Leeds have not been any more solid with Bijol in the team than they were with Struijk, but they have looked far worse in building up play.
Struijk is excellent on the ball and his ability to pick out forward passes to kick-start attacks has clearly been missed.
Other than Okafor’s solo runs, Leeds were rarely able to play their way up the field against Brighton and Struijk’s absence could explain why. He has to come back in against Forest.
Several Leeds players could lose starting place vs Nottingham Forest
Bijol shouldn’t be the only player in the firing line, though.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who went off with a knock, has now gone five games without scoring and hasn’t even been offering much presence up front in recent games.
Aaronson was back to doing not much on Saturday after a rare good showing against West Ham, Gudmundsson was torn to shreds by Yankuba Minteh and Ampadu was very poor on the ball.
There may be room for Dan James, James Justin, Lukas Nmecha and Anton Stach to all come into the team next weekend.