Falke must release £18m Leeds star at Wembley

Leeds United fans descending on Wembley on Sunday afternoon will have even more reason to believe their beloved team can reach the FA Cup final.

After all, the Blues, who will face Chelsea in the semi-final, are without a permanent manager after sacking Liam Rosenior following a tumultuous three months at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have lost their last five league games, but Daniel Farke’s side have bravely continued to pick up points when needed. In his final Premier League match against AFC Bournemouth, his 97th-minute equalizer took him further away from the dreaded drop zone.

Still, the performance in the 2-2 draw at the South Coast was not perfect, with several under-performers perhaps at risk of being dismissed in the Wembley showdown later today.

Changes Leeds must make after Bournemouth

The magnitude of Sunday’s match cannot be underestimated from Leeds’ point of view, as this is the Whites’ first semi-final in this esteemed competition in their 39-year history.

The West Yorkshire giants will therefore want to do everything in their power to reach the FA Cup final, which could mean the underwhelming Jayden Bogle could be left out for the trip to Wembley.

Due to a slight foot injury sustained in the game against the Cherries, Farke has attracted attention for being used as a touch-and-go player against Chelsea, but his performance in the first half against Andoni Iraola’s hosts was poor, with just 25 touches and the ball being haphazardly taken away 10 times, and there is a good chance that Farke will also leave the team.

Furthermore, will coach Falke be tempted to recall Lucas Perry for this monumental game on the home soil of football?

After all, the Frenchman became Leeds’ hero from the moment as the Whites came within a penalty shootout of West Ham United in the final round of the FA Cup.

Additionally, Karl Darlow definitely looked weak against Bournemouth, registering only 57% passing accuracy and being forced to fish the ball out of the net twice.

Thankfully, Leeds bounced back soon after with a goal from Sean Longstaff, but there will still be plenty to do from the 2-2 draw as the German looks to drop the star, who had fewer touches on the ball than Darlow against Iraola’s side.

Farke could leave £18m star on the bench at Wembley

To beat Chelsea, Farke will need all his main attackers to be firing on all cylinders, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin having to push his goal-scoring performance against the Cherries to the side and become Leeds’ main marksman at Wembley.

While Calvert-Lewin won six duels against the Cherries, the Swiss forward was missing for the majority of the game, so it may be tempting to leave out Noah Okafor in this regard.

Indeed, while Okafor did hit the woodwork with his performance on the night, he wasn’t quite as wild as he was to score a double against Manchester United and his only strike against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and he only had 30 touches.

As mentioned above, even Darlow was able to save even more money when he walked away from a fun encounter with 52 next to his name.

If Leeds are to beat the managerless Blues, they will need to be more careful in possession and attack with instant precision in front of goal, so it’s understandable that Falke, who is worried about losing the ball 11 times with the slightest of touches, will want to overhaul his attack for high-stakes games like this.

Wilfried Gunont could very well replace the £18million ace, with the Italian no stranger to nervy games at Los Blancos having scored a penalty during the Hammers’ shoot-out during his long career at Elland Road.

Whichever team takes part, Falke will no doubt be keen to have Joe Rodon back as manager, but Leeds will be expected to fail to lock in on the big stage with the FA Cup final on the horizon and stay out of the relegation zone for the upcoming season.