Leeds United 'could look' to emulate Liverpool plan as Patrick Bamford return tipped to benefit teammate

Leeds United will look to cement their place among the early front-runners for promotion when they host Coventry City at Elland Road this weekend. Daniel Farke’s side returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory at 10-man Cardiff City on Saturday, with goals either side of half-time from Largie Ramazani and Joel Piroe, and the German will hope to build early momentum against a struggling Sky Blues outfit.

Leeds took just one point from their two meetings with Coventry last season and will be under no illusions regarding this weekend’s task, regardless of their visitor’s slow start. Farke and his squad will continue preparations at Thorp Arch today and in the meantime, the YEP has rounded up some of the latest stories surrounding the club.

Elland Road plans

Leeds announced ambitious Elland Road development plans earlier this week and the appointment of key project members could provide an insight into their expansion methods. Club chiefs have set a target capacity of 53,000 and The Athletic claim they ‘could look’ to emulate Liverpool’s recent Anfield expansion project.

A statement from the club explained how a phased construction of the North and West Stands will be key to increasing capacity, and in hiring architects KSS to lead the design, they have the team responsible for developing Anfield’s Main Stand recently. And Leeds could look to follow suit in a bid to keep capacity as high as possible during construction.

In that Anfield project, construction of new upper tiers were built around existing seats which remained in use on matchdays, before developing and improving the lower tiers in the latter stages. The development will bring Elland Road into UEFA's Category 4 status, putting it among the European elite.

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Bamford return

Don Goodman expects the return to fitness of Patrick Bamford to aid Mateo Joseph, with competition for places ‘sharpening the mind’. Joseph has been excellent for large parts this season and earned his spot as first-choice striker, albeit the 20-year-old will have hoped to have more than one goal.

Bamford missed large parts of pre-season due to injury and suffered a fresh hamstring issue before the 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday. Farke is urging caution in welcoming the experienced frontman back into the team but his presence in training and on the bench will be welcomed by all.

“Patrick coming back is brilliant because, ask any player or manager, they’ll tell you that serious competition for places does sharpen your mind,” Goodman told MOT Leeds News. That’s a win-win for Leeds, and while Joseph hasn’t scored many goals, his performance levels would have pleased Daniel Farke.”