Here is the Leeds United morning digest for Sunday, November 22.
Orta addresses ‘risk’ of January transfer business
Victor Orta has reiterated his stance that he’s reluctant for Leeds to do business in the January transfer market.
The Spanish director of football spoke to the press at the unveiling of the Kalvin Phillips mural on The Calls in Leeds City Centre as part of the club’s partnership with American brand Roc Nation.
However, he did not rule out the prospect of first-team additions mid-season, if the right player is available at the right price.
"I think we need to be really clever,” United’s director of football told reporters.
"If one option appears who we think clearly improves the squad, obviously [we need to] be ready to make [an offer].
"For me first, it's [about] availability.
"You go to a player who is playing in a lower division, or you go for a player who is not playing in your division or at another level, it is a risk."
Leeds-born Haaland wins prestigious award
Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has been named the winner of 2020 Golden Boy award, given to the most promising player under the age of 21 in European football.
The Norway international, who was born in Leeds, is the first player born in the UK to win the award since Wayne Rooney in 2004. He follows in the footsteps of the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and, last year, Joao Felix.
Former Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson has spoken about the possibility of the prolific centre-forward, son of his former Leeds team-mate Alf-Inge Haaland, playing in the Premier League.
"One day, we will see Erling Haaland in the Premier League, without a shadow of a doubt," Robinson told Football Insider.
"I would love it to be at Leeds, where he grew up watching his dad play. I think Dortmund was a stepping stone before a move to the Premier League.”
Simulation predicts Arsenal clash
LeedsLive have taken a look at how United’s clash with Arsenal later today will go , using the detailed data from FIFA 21.
We set the teams as predicted with all the latest injury news in mind, and allowed the match to play out using AI.
For Leeds, we went with: Meslier; Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Dallas; Phillips; Costa, Klich, Roberts, Harrison and Bamford, while we predicted Mikel Arteta to go with Leno; Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka; Ceballos, Xhaka; Aubameyang, Nketiah and Pepe for the visitors.
In the simulation, Arsenal enjoyed the majority of possession but struggled to create chances, while Leeds took the lead, and eventually sealed the three points with 11 minutes to go, with Mateusz Klich and Rodrigo Moreno grabbing the goals in a 2-0 win.
Let’s hope the programmers at FIFA know what they’re doing.
