Timely boost before great fixture with Leeds United and Arsenal gap closed - David Prutton

KALVIN PHILLIPS is back available for tomorrow’s clash against Arsenal which is a huge boost for Leeds United.
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The Whites fell to two 4-1 defeats in their last two games before the international break against Leicester City and Crystal Palace, but it was a case of very fine margins in both fixtures.

Pablo Hernandez hit the post against Leicester with Leeds 2-0 down before the Foxes went and finished the game off.

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In the Palace game, you had the ridiculous offside decision given against Patrick Bamford and the ridiculous own goal. These are fine margins and having someone like Kalvin back will breed confidence throughout the team.

BOOST: Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, pictured centre celebrating Helder Costa's opening strike against Fulham in September, is back from a shoulder injury for Sunday's clash against Arsenal. Photo by Carl Recine - Pool/Getty Images.BOOST: Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, pictured centre celebrating Helder Costa's opening strike against Fulham in September, is back from a shoulder injury for Sunday's clash against Arsenal. Photo by Carl Recine - Pool/Getty Images.
BOOST: Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, pictured centre celebrating Helder Costa's opening strike against Fulham in September, is back from a shoulder injury for Sunday's clash against Arsenal. Photo by Carl Recine - Pool/Getty Images.

The vital role that he plays in anchoring the midfield is maybe something that, sub-consciously, the players have missed and that’s not to the detriment of those that have filled in.

Kalvin brings that reassurance in the middle of the park but it is by no means going to be easy for Leeds against Arsenal, although it depends which Gunners team decides to turn up.

Whether we see the Arsenal side that have made some real strides under Mikel Arteta or the one that reverts back to how it used to be remains to be seen, but Leeds have got to be very confident going into the game, which is another great fixture for them to have back on the Premier League calendar.

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Leeds met Arsenal as a Championship club in January’s FA Cup tie in which they gave a wonderful account of themselves for 45 minutes before the Gunners slowly pulled the game away from them.

HARD TO PREDICT: Arsenal under boss Mikel Arteta who was left disappointed as his side lost 3-0 at home to Aston Villa, above, following a 1-0 win at Manchester United. Photo by Andy Rain - Pool/Getty Images.HARD TO PREDICT: Arsenal under boss Mikel Arteta who was left disappointed as his side lost 3-0 at home to Aston Villa, above, following a 1-0 win at Manchester United. Photo by Andy Rain - Pool/Getty Images.
HARD TO PREDICT: Arsenal under boss Mikel Arteta who was left disappointed as his side lost 3-0 at home to Aston Villa, above, following a 1-0 win at Manchester United. Photo by Andy Rain - Pool/Getty Images.

That night will be fresh enough in Leeds’ minds but the gap between the two teams since then has narrowed.

You can’t take away what Arsenal have done in the last 20-odd years with what Arsene Wenger managed to create on the back of George Graham and his title-winning side.

This weekend is a reminder that Leeds are back in the big time but also a stark reminder that they have got a heck of a long way to go to be seen as equals and talked about in the same breath.

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Marcelo Bielsa gave a very long answer in Friday’s press conference when asked if he had been able to eradicate any problems during the international break.

His style of play has served Leeds thoroughly well so far, but there are fine margins in the Premier League.

The games against Leicester and Palace in the Championship might have ended 1-1 or 2-1 but, because it is top-flight opposition, any scoring chances are ruthlessly snatched up.

It will be frustrating for the players when the balance of a game like the Leicester contest tips very quickly and then there is the goal against Palace to which we are all still scratching our heads about as to why it was disallowed.

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You can’t stress enough just how important these goals are that change such games, especially the higher the level you play at.

If that goal is allowed against Palace then you never know what kind of confidence that breeds and what the attitude of the players turns into given Leeds’ ability to come back into the game.

It’s not time for wholesale reconstruction of the side and Marcelo is not like that anyway. He likes the way that Leeds play and I am sure he has got nuances for that particular style.

But the fundamentals remain the same.

You could have another conversation if they ship in another three or four, but let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. Leeds are going into tomorrow’s game with a team and squad not a million miles away from the one that started this season so well.

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Maybe I am remaining too much on the side of positivity because successive defeats where you have shipped a lot of goals can be potentially damaging.

But such games can also be potentially productive, just to re affirm what Leeds are and that nobody gets carried away either way.

Leeds went into the recent break with a huge tick in terms of how they had adapted to the top-flight.

But, ultimately, the long game is about making sure they are in the conversation at the start of next season’s Premier League campaign.

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Thank you Laura Collins

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