Farke can finally drop Aaronson by unleashing "electric" Leeds star
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Leeds United have the chance to move eight points clear at the top of the Championship table as they play host to West Bromwich Albion this afternoon, prior to Sheffield United’s clash later in the day.
The Whites continued their unbeaten run against teams in Yorkshire in the league with a 3-1 win over the Blades in their last outing in the division.
Two late goals from Ao Tanaka and Joel Piroe, after an equaliser from Junior Firpo, secured all three points for the West Yorkshire outfit in that all-Yorkshire meeting, which created a five-point gap between the two sides.
Whilst it was a terrific second half performance and result for Leeds, Daniel Farke could make a change to his team from that game by finally dropping Brenden Aaronson to the bench.
Why Brenden Aaronson should be dropped
The USA international has started 32 of his 34 appearances in the Championship so far this season, but should be ruthlessly binned from the XI for today’s game.
This clash with West Brom is the club’s last game of the season against the other five teams that are currently sat in the top six, and Aaronson is yet to provide a goal or an assist against any of them.
|
Form against the Championship top six |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Brenden Aaronson vs |
Goals |
Assists |
|
West Brom (A) |
0 |
0 |
|
Burnley (H) |
0 |
0 |
|
Sunderland (A) |
0 |
0 |
|
Sheffield United (H) |
0 |
0 |
|
Blackburn (A) |
0 |
0 |
|
Blackburn (H) |
0 |
0 |
|
Burnley (A) |
0 |
0 |
|
Sunderland (H) |
0 |
0 |
|
Sheffield United (A) |
0 |
0 |
As you can see in the table above, the former Union Berlin loanee has played in all nine of Leeds’ other games against the top six, including the reverse fixture at The Hawthorns, and has nothing to show for his efforts at the top end of the pitch.
With this in mind, Farke should finally drop Aaronson to the bench, because the evidence suggests that he will not make an impact in the final third, and unleash Wilfried Gnonto in his place.
Why Wilfried Gnonto should start
The Italy U21 international has typically been deployed as a winger at Elland Road, but he has played 64 matches in his career as a second striker or attacking midfielder, which suggests that the young gem could play in a position behind Joel Piroe.
He created more chances (two) in 14 minutes off the bench than Aaronson managed (one) in 58 minutes of action as a starter against Sheffield United last time out.
Gnonto has shown promise against the best sides in the Championship, assisting two goals in a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland earlier this season.
The £30k-per-week star, who Statman Dave once described as “electric”, also managed one goal against Ipswich and two assists against Norwich in the 2023/24 campaign.
Gnonto has scored five goals and provided five assists in 20 starts in the Championship so far this season and should be unleashed from the start as an attacking midfielder, behind Piroe, to see if he can offer more than Aaronson has in that role.
The American flop has failed to offer much against the best sides in the league, as shown by his record against the top six, and this clash with West Brom is a big chance for the Italian gem to show that he can be the go-to man in that position moving forward for Farke.
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It would then be down to Gnonto to show the kind of quality he displayed against the likes of Sunderland, Ipswich, and Norwich, against the Baggies today.
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