Ahead of Friday night’s clash against West Ham, Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed that Leeds United midfield duo Pablo Hernandez and Jamie Shackleton are available after recovering from injury, while Gaetano Berardi has been set a timescale of February for his potential return.
The Whites find themselves 14th in the Premier League after a tough trip to Stamford Bridge last time out where Frank Lampard’s Chelsea flexed their muscles to brush aside Leeds 3-1 and temporarily move to the top of the table.
In a game where a gulf in class was apparent, Leeds weren’t helped by an early injury to Robin Koch, who was taken off in the ninth minute and has since had surgery to repair a serious knee injury.
With Koch set to be ruled out for three months as he recovers, Bielsa has confirmed that his replacement on that night, Diego Llorente, has also suffered a setback keeping him out for two to three weeks.
Yet another defensive reshuffle is on the cards for Bielsa as the Hammers make the trip to West Yorkshire on Friday night, but the Argentine had some positive news to deliver in his pre-match press conference.
Two players that have been missing further up the pitch in the past four games have been Jamie Shackleton and Pablo Hernandez, whose last appearances for the club came in the 4-1 home defeat to Leicester City.
While Shackleton was in fact injured for the following match at Crystal Palace, Hernandez seemingly missed out due to his touchline outburst against the Foxes, when he threw his black armband into the stand and kicked a water bottle in the dugout.
Bielsa confirmed (via LeedsLive) that “Shackleton and Hernandez are healthy and available.”
Also, rather unexpectedly, Bielsa had more positive news in the shape of long-term servant Gaetano Berardi:
very interesting snippet is that Bielsa hopes Gaetano Berardi will be back from February onwards. No plans to go into the market for another CB in January. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) December 9, 2020
Chelsea MotM
Kalvin Phillips
Patrick Bamford
Liam Cooper
Raphinha
