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Leeds predicted lineup vs Aston Villa: Shackleton starts; Dallas moves to Phillips role
Leeds United will be hoping to produce an immediate response after suffering their first home defeat of the season on Monday – but Marcelo Bielsa’s side face an incredibly tough task.
The Whites travel to Villa Park. And they will have to end Dean Smith’s side’s flawless start to the campaign if they hope to take anything from the game.
Bielsa will have happy memories of the ground however. His only visit so far saw Leeds come from 2-0 down at half-time to win 3-2, with Kemar Roofe scoring a stoppage-time winner back in 2018.
Replicating that victory however, has suddenly become a lot more difficult. on Tuesday that Kalvin Phillips could miss up to six weeks due to injury.
There are a number of contenders who could come in for Phillips against Villa. Mateusz Klich dropped into that role when Pascal Struijk went off on Monday with Phillips moving into the defence.
Struijk himself, filled in for Phillips superbly at the end of last season. So predicting who Bielsa may pick at this stage looks incredibly tricky.
In fact, losing Phillips could mean that the entire system changes slightly. That is why Leeds may opt for a back three of Struijk, Robin Koch and Luke Ayling.
Stuart Dallas is listed as the holding midfielder below. However, if those four are involved this week, it would be no surprise to see a more fluid system, which sees Struijk and Koch move into the Phillips role at various stages.
It would also allow Leeds to seamlessly change to a back four with Dallas becoming a full-back.
Shackleton to start following Phillips blow?
In front of the backline may be Klich and Jamie Shackleton. Of course, some will hope to see Pablo Hernandez start. But Shackleton will provide great energy and could be used as the side’s number eight if Klich does drop deeper.
Jack Harrison and Helder Costa may be tasked with patrolling the entirety of their respective flanks if Leeds do deploy a back three.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo will be looking to continue building on his promising start to his Elland Road career behind Patrick Bamford.
With that in mind, here is what Leeds may – initially – look like when they take on Villa following the news regarding Phillips…
