Leeds United have avoided Man Utd nightmare scenario with biggest decision settling debate

Daniel Farke held off on a change to the Leeds goalkeeping situation for as long as he could and longer than many would have liked. Explaining that he's more reticent to switch keepers than he is to change outfield players from game to game, Farke held off on taking Illan Meslier out of the side despite a number of high profile errors. When Farke did decide that enough was enough after the Swansea City game and that he had to protect the Frenchman and Leeds' automatic promotion hopes, he brought Karl Darlow into the team - with seven huge fixtures remaining.

To date Darlow has not needed to be spectacular, making only a couple of important stops in his three outings, but spectacular was not really what Leeds or Farke needed. What they needed from the change is what they have got, solid, sensible goalkeeping that took away one of the most divisive and incendiary narratives from the promotion run-in. What they needed from Darlow was for him to ensure Farke did not immediately regret his decision and find himself in the same boat as Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.

With Andre Onana proving not only error-prone but headline greedy, putting himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons with post-game comments and in-game gaffes, Amorim made a high profile change for the game against Newcastle United. In came Altay Bayindir and in went four goals, the last of which came via a glaring error from the goalkeeper. As Danny Murphy on Match of the Day 2 put it: "I think it was the right thing to give Onana a breather, he was letting team-mates down too often. Bayindir has done alright, he did particularly well in the Arsenal cup game earlier in the season. If you're a manager who never gives the reserve keeper a chance when the other one is really struggling he's going to be asked questions. He gave him a chance, he didn't cover himself in glory, so what does he do now for the big one in midweek?"

Herein lies the danger that Farke faced with what has to be described as one of the biggest managerial decisions of his Leeds United tenure. Had Darlow come in at Luton and made some glaring error or another that swung the goalkeeping narrative completely the other way or even endured a shocker at Kenilworth Road against a big team looking to bomb the ball into the box and make life difficult, then where would Farke have had to turn next? Sticking with Darlow, going back to Meslier or bringing in third-choice stopper Alex Cairns would all be options with their own risk factors and any further change would have shown the German in a reactive and indecisive light.

Where Amorim has to now decide whether to stick with a keeper who looked so far from assured against the Magpies or go back to the one who clearly needed a break for a huge game against Lyon, Farke has been able to rest easy that his big call has not immediately backfired. No one has looked silly, Darlow has looked confident and Meslier has been allowed to come out of the limelight and play a supporting role. The latter's body language and whole-hearted involvement from the bench has been noticeable and lent itself to the idea that he has put side before self during what has to be a difficult personal period. For the last three games the entire goalkeeping picture at Leeds has been under the microscope only for the manager and squad to deliver a draw and two huge victories. They sit top of the table and though the pressure is always there, it is showing more clearly in the results and demeanour of promotion rivals Sheffield United.

Oxford United on Friday will, as Luton did, seek to test Darlow's ability under high balls and long throws. That one nervy moment on Saturday against Preston when he punched the ball outside the confines of his box to receive a yellow will serve as a reminder that things can still go awry and no one can relax just yet. But if nothing else Leeds go to Kassam Stadium with a settled debate and a goalkeeping page from which everyone can sing.