Leeds United vs Plymouth Argyle analysis: Five key battles & score prediction
A rare 3pm kick-off at Elland Road sees Wayne Rooney and his struggling Plymouth Argyle side take on high-flying Leeds United.
Despite an underwhelming 0-0 draw with Bristol City last time out, Leeds find themselves level on points with second-place Burnley in the Championship table.
Plymouth arrive on the back of a thrilling 3-3 draw at Home Park against Preston, but they also bring the worst away form in the league, having picked up a solitary point and scored a single goal on their travels so far.
With Leeds on a three-match winning streak at home, conceding only one goal in the process, there will no doubt be a contrast in approaches to this game and it could easily prove a stubborn affair.
In this article, Sports News Blitz writer Samuel Leasley considers five key battles to anticipate in Saturday’s fixture at Elland Road.
Daniel Farke vs Wayne Rooney
Daniel Farke was adamant that the Whites were the dominant side at Ashton Gate, but ultimately the 0-0 scoreline represented more points dropped on the road.
The draw did at least make it seven games unbeaten for Leeds in the Championship and extended their unbeaten run away from home.
Against Plymouth, Farke will be boosted by the return of Junior Firpo from suspension but will miss Jayden Bogle who picked up his fifth booking of the season against Bristol City. Further, both Joe Rodon and Wilfried Gnonto are currently walking the yellow card tightrope with four bookings each.
With three games to come in quick succession, Farke will be hoping to gain maximum points in order to close the gap to Sunderland at the top of the table.
Argyle boss Wayne Rooney will no doubt be happy with the fighting spirit shown by his side to recover from 3-0 down against Preston to grab a draw, but he will be looking to avoid a repeat of the head start given at Home Park.
The Pilgrims' wretched away form will be cause for concern for Rooney as his side hover precariously above the relegation zone in 21st place in the table.
Furthermore, Plymouth will be without joint-top scorer Ibrahim Cissoko who is serving the final game of his three-match suspension following his red card against Cardiff.
The Whites were 2-1 winners in this fixture last season and will be hoping for a similar result again to take the three points.
On a personal level, Rooney and Farke’s last meeting came when Birmingham City visited Elland Road in January, with Leeds running out comfortable 3-0 winners that day.
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Brenden Aaronson vs Adam Forshaw
Here we have a matchup between the current Leeds United number 10 and a man the home faithful will know all too well.
Brenden Aaronson has scored the second-most goals in the Leeds side this season, trailing only Joel Piroe, and has attempted more shots than any other Whites player. The US international has also made 15 key passes and offers an impressive 83% pass accuracy from attacking midfield. He further averages two shots, two crosses, four dribbles, and a key pass per game.
Aaronson’s numbers stand out in a Leeds side where offensive returns are distributed evenly amongst the front four of Farke’s system. While not always a dominant presence on the pitch, he nevertheless provides a central attacking output that should trouble the Argyle midfield.
Adam Forshaw, on the other hand, is a name that is no doubt familiar to Leeds fans due to his 83 appearances for the club between 2018 and 2023. This included playing an integral role in Leeds winning the 2019-20 Championship under Marcelo Bielsa.
Forshaw has played regularly for Argyle since joining in January 2024 and is expected to feature for Wayne Rooney’s side on Saturday. Following an injury-plagued few seasons, both at Elland Road and during a poor spell at Norwich City, it appears Forshaw is finally back to his best.
Despite the defensive frailty of the Pilgrims in recent weeks, Forshaw has managed to rack up impressive individual stats in the defensive third that he will be looking to maintain against Brenden Aaronson on Saturday.
So far this season, Forshaw has made 11 successful tackles in the Championship and has won two thirds of his duels in the Plymouth half. In addition, he has an excellent pass completion rate of 89%.
In a Plymouth system that will likely be withdrawn and compact in an attempt to stifle the Leeds attack, Forshaw will need to be at his very best to contain not only Brenden Aaronson but the attacking quartet as a whole in order to gain a result from this difficult fixture.
Junior Firpo vs Morgan Whittaker
After serving a suspension for picking up five yellow cards, Dominican Republic international Junior Firpo is set for a return to action on Saturday.
Despite operating in the full-back role, Firpo provides valuable attacking width on the Leeds left flank, especially against opposition who sit deep, and will no doubt do the same against Plymouth.
In the Championship this season, Firpo has accumulated three assists as well as 18 key passes and the same number of crosses. On the defensive side of things, he has made 23 successful tackles and 24 clearances as part of the Leeds back four.
The absence of Firpo’s energy and overlapping threat was certainly a factor in Leeds’ poor attacking display at Ashton Gate, and the hope will be that his return brings instant results.
Morgan Whittaker has been Plymouth’s talisman since his club-record signing in 2023 and is sure to be the Pilgrims main attacking threat this weekend. He was Argyle’s top scorer last season with 19 goals and provided a further eight assists.
The Englishman scored Argyle’s only away goal this season at QPR and will be hoping to improve his overall tally of three for the season so far.
Whittaker has proved particularly troublesome for opposition full-backs in the current campaign, winning 20 fouls down the right wing. On Saturday, he will come up against a full-back in Firpo who has committed 16 fouls this term.
Should Firpo play a high line as is expected due to his attacking tendencies, there will likely be space for Whittaker to exploit and possibly provide an avenue for the three points.
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Joe Rodon vs Michael Obafemi
Already sitting on four bookings, Joe Rodon will be desperate to reach the international break without picking up a suspension.
Whilst the Whites could not leave Ashton Gate with all three points, Rodon would have been happy to collect a seventh clean sheet of the season and will enter this fixture confident of another. He seems to have shaken off his early season rust recently with only an unfortunate rebound denying him three consecutive clean sheets.
The Welshman has made the most clearances of any Leeds player this season with 45 and averages four defensive clearances per game. Notably, Rodon has only been dribbled past twice across 12 games. At Elland Road against Plymouth, he will look to heap more misery on the away support.
For the Pilgrims, Michael Obafemi will want to cement his place as Wayne Rooney’s lone striker following a decidedly mixed start to the campaign. Having started only four fixtures so far, the pressure is on with Andre Gray netting off the bench against Preston and Ryan Hardie fully fit again.
Obafemi’s solitary goal this season came at home against Blackburn, and he needs more to give Rooney a selection headache. In particular, the Irish international will be seeking to regain his incredible 2021/22 form at Swansea when he netted in the double figures.
Each forward in Plymouth’s squad is averaging around 50 minutes per appearance meaning there is plenty of rotation in the Argyle side and not a little insecurity up front.
It is sure to take a strong Plymouth effort to crack the Leeds defensive line, and Obafemi must turn up in order for them to take something from Elland Road.
Joel Piroe vs Kornel Szucs
Someone who definitely hopes to cause Plymouth more defensive misery is Joel Piroe.
The Dutchman netted the winner in the last iteration of this fixture as Leeds won 2-1, and he will be hoping to add to his four goals so far this season. While not always the focal point of the Leeds attack, Piroe is likely the man Farke wants the ball to fall to in the penalty area.
Incredibly, Piroe has scored his four goals from only five shots on target. This poacher role is perfect for the Leeds attack where wing-play often leads to the ball being fizzed into the 18-yard box.
After initially starting the season on the bench with Mateo Joseph favoured, Piroe has found his way back into the starting XI and must maintain his form to keep his place.
One of the men tasked with keeping him quiet will be Hungarian Kornel Szucs, who made his international debut in the most recent international break against Bosnia and Herzegovina when coming on as a late substitute.
Szucs joined Plymouth from Hungarian side Kecskemeti in the summer and the defender has gone on to start every one of his games for the Pilgrims.
Despite some poor underlying defensive statistics, Rooney will hope that Szucs’ presence can stifle the threat from Joel Piroe. Much like Rodon, the Hungarian is sitting on four yellow cards and will have one eye on making it to the international break unscathed.
Piroe is likely to find the net given a yard of space, meaning that Szucs will have to man-mark the Dutchman to avoid him getting on the scoresheet.
Typically, when teams sit back against Leeds, Piroe struggles to get involved. Crowding him out would no doubt help Plymouth keep the forward from capitalising on any loose balls and causing trouble.
Considering their poor attacking and defensive numbers away from home, Argyle are unlikely to take all three points on Saturday. If, however, they can frustrate Leeds with a low block and strong defence, riling the crowd at the same time, it is not impossible that they could nab a point.
In contrast, on the back of that poor showing at Ashton Gate, Leeds will want to improve their finishing and build some momentum ahead of the coming fixtures prior to the international break.
Score prediction: Leeds United 3-0 Plymouth Argyle
