Championship analysis: Five key battles in Leeds United vs Burnley showdown
This weekend sees the return of Championship football after the first international break of the season - and there’s a feisty clash at Elland Road between two clubs who no doubt will be vying for the automatic promotion spots come the end of the season.
Leeds United appear to have bounced back from a rough start to the season, having shipped six goals in back-to-back home games.
They responded to keep three consecutive clean sheets and banked seven points to propel themselves to fourth in the table ahead of Saturday’s fixture.
Burnley have had similar mixed fortunes after a blistering start, with nine goals scored in their opening two fixtures.
The Clarets have dropped points in the last two games with a loss away to Sunderland and a 1-1 draw in a tasty Lancashire derby against Blackburn.
The last four meetings between these two sides took place in a Premier League setting, with Leeds unbeaten in these encounters, winning three and only shipping two goals.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Samuel Leasley considers five key battles for the lunchtime kick off at Elland Road.
Daniel Farke vs Scott Parker
We start with a battle of the Championship promotion experts Daniel Farke and Scott Parker, each with two promotions a piece - Farke possessing two league titles with Norwich and Parker a play-off winners’ medal at Fulham and automatic promotion at AFC Bournemouth.
Farke began his managerial career at SV Lippstadt, the same club he concluded his playing career at, staying at the helm for six years and achieving two promotions in that time to the fourth tier of German football.
After a short spell at Borussia Dortmund’s reserve side, Farke joined Norwich City in May 2017. During this tenure he would lead the Canaries to two Championship titles, accumulating a club-record 97 points on route to their second title.
Yet this success was tainted with the club relegated after finishing bottom in Farke’s first Premier League campaign - followed by his sacking in November 2021 with the club again routed to the foot of the table.
Following a practically non-existent spell at Krasnodar and a middling time back in Germany at Borussia Monchengladbach, Farke joined Leeds in July 2023 and led the Whites to 90 points, which in any other season would’ve seen them promoted, but ultimately heartbreak found them (again) at Wembley against Southampton.
Farke’s style of play has a heavy reliance on fast counters in transition and the dictation of play through a traditional number 10, picking the ball up in pockets and supplying inside forwards and overlapping full-backs to create attacking overloads.
This reliance on the number 10 can be seen in the tremendous successes of Emi Buendia and Georgino Rutter whilst in Farke’s system.
In a similar vein, Scott Parker has seen great success in his relatively short managerial career within Championship football.
In his first season as permanent head coach of Fulham, Parker led the Cottagers to play-off victory against London rivals Brentford following Joe Bryan’s brace at Wembley.
After valiantly fighting in the Premier League, Parker was brought back down to earth with Fulham finishing 18th and immediately returning to the Championship, leading to his departure from the club.
Parker’s second Championship stint began with Bournemouth in the 2021/22 season in which he led the Cherries to a second-place finish and automatic promotion behind his former side and runaway leaders Fulham.
This time at the club would end abruptly following a 9-0 away defeat to Liverpool, with Parker claiming his side simply did not have the reinforcements it required in the transfer market.
After a short spell at Club Brugge in Belgium, in which Parker only won twice in 12 games, Burnley appointed Parker as head coach on a three-year deal in July 2024.
Parker’s style of play appears closely attached to Farke’s with an emphasis on controlling games and attacking overloads.
His previous successes have stemmed from aerially dominant forwards supplied by tricky and fast wingers e.g. Mitrovic at Fulham, Solanke at Bournemouth.
With both managers favouring attacking approaches, it remains an intriguing predicament with the fixture potentially decided on the stability of a defensive line rather than attacking talent.
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Junior Firpo and Manor Solomon vs Conor Roberts and Jaidon Anthony
With the nature of Leeds’ attacking threat both Junior Firpo and Manor Solomon will be providing former Leeds loanees Conor Roberts and Jaidon Anthony plenty of company on Saturday lunchtime.
However, this will be no quiet pint in a beer garden and Roberts will have to be alert to stop both men providing the width on the left hand side for Leeds, with Firpo needing to take similar precautions.
Both Firpo and Solomon picked up assists in the Whites’ most recent victory against Hull City with Firpo in particular carrying on his impressive form from the latter half of last season in which he accumulated eight assists.
Solomon, brought in as a replacement for the departed Championship player of the season Crysencio Summerville, looked impressive in his debut for the Whites - and many hope he can replicate the success that was seen in glimpses at Fulham and Tottenham on a more regular basis.
It is this attacking overload, however, that could open the door for Conor Roberts, who Leeds’ fans will be more than familiar with.
Roberts spent the second half of last season on loan at the Whites, providing a goal and an assist in 14 games.
Anthony, on loan from Bournemouth, will be looking to showcase more of his ability this season after playing a bit-part role last season due to personal loss and the incredible form of Summerville.
Roberts’ overlapping prowess and crossing ability will leave Firpo with plenty of decisions to make and will leave the Leeds left flank a point of interest for the success of either side at Elland Road.
Mateo Joseph vs Lyle Foster
Moving to the forefront of the attack we see two forwards who opened their Championship accounts for the season in the most recent match week - Mateo Joseph and Lyle Foster.
Joseph endeared himself to the Leeds faithful (well those who weren’t watching the Under-21s) and on-watching audiences with a brace at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup fourth round last season - and has positioned himself as the starting number 9 for Daniel Farke this season.
Having accumulated a brace of assists away at Sheffield Wednesday, Joseph prodded home his first league goal of the season against Hull and will look to continue this form against Burnley.
Foster opened his account in the Lancashire derby against Blackburn and will look to impose himself on a Leeds side with clean sheets in their previous three games.
Foster arrived at Burnley for a fee reported to be around £7million; a record for a South African.
The South African international will be looking to improve on his eight goal contributions from last season and provide Scott Parker with the talisman that many of his successes have been built from.
In order for success on Saturday, Foster will have to best the Championship’s second-best defensive record from last season - and Joseph will have his work cut out against Championship veterans Joe Worrall and John Egan who no doubt will look to bully the young forward.
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Brendan Aaronson and Ethan Ampadu vs Josh Brownhill and Hannibal Mejbri
As previously touched on with tactical styles, a definite area where the game will be won or lost is the number 10 position. Brendan Aaronson will have Josh Brownhill for company and Hannibal Mejbri will have Ethan Ampadu on his coat tails.
Aaronson remains a touchy subject amongst the Leeds faithful and in the eyes of many still has making up to do after taking the exit clause in his contract to join Union Berlin following relegation.
However, Aaronson has provided two goals in the Championship this season and looks to have taken the coveted number 10 position under Farke.
These two goals also mean the American has already surpassed his Premier League goal tally with his only previous strike for Leeds coming via an Edouard Mendy slip-up in a 3-0 win over Chelsea.
Having arrived with a £25million price tag, it is clear that Leeds are still yet to see the best of Aaronson - but many hope that the promise shown at the beginning of the season is not an outlier in his performance.
Aaronson will have to best the ever reliable Josh Brownhill if Leeds are to best Burnley in this match-up.
Brownhill remains one of Burnley’s longer-serving players having been at the club since 2020 and accumulated 156 appearances.
The midfielder will be hoping to banish bad memories of Elland Road having failed to win at the ground with both Bristol City and Burnley - with his first career red card coming in a 2-0 loss to Leeds in 2018.
Having earned a place in the Championship Team of the Season in his previous campaign and being ever present this season so far, it appears Aaronson will have his work cut out when up against the man of Malaysian descent.
Now tackling the opposite number 10 and defensive midfielder battle, we have Ethan Ampadu and Hannibal Mejbri.
The Leeds captain was ever present in the side last season and shifted between the role of defensive anchor and central defender.
With the return of Pascal Struijk from injury, Ampadu has reassumed his role in midfield and will look to get the better of Mejbri on Saturday.
Ampadu was instrumental in Leeds only conceding 43 goals last campaign, bested by only champions Leicester, and remains the first name on the team sheet for Farke.
Having arrived from Chelsea for £7million, Ampadu connected with the Leeds faithful through his gritty determination in midfield and being instrumental in defending transitions as the forward line pressed high.
Acting almost as a dual deep-lying playmaker and a ball-winning midfielder, alongside Ilia Gruev, Ampadu is well known to Championship number 10s as tough tackling and technically gifted - and this should give Hannibal a tough time at Elland Road.
A man who no doubt will get a frosty reaction due to his previous club allegiance will be Hannibal Mejbri.
Having won reserve player of the year in 2021 for Manchester United, Hannibal has established himself as a regular feature in English football and for the Tunisian national team in recent seasons.
He spent the 22/23 season on loan at Birmingham City, scoring his first senior goal against West Brom.
He would then go on to net his first Premier League goal for Manchester United in a 3-1 loss against Brighton before moving to Sevilla on a short-term loan in 2024.
He joined Burnley this summer on a four-year contract and clearly still has so much left to offer after making his debut against Blackburn.
When Leeds push men forward and Mejbri is left isolated against Ampadu it remains an interesting match-up with neither player shy from putting his body on the line.
It is within these midfield battles where the ball may become erratic and leave flurries of tackles flying in - yet it remains arguably the most important area to control for both teams when chasing a result.
Illan Meslier vs James Trafford
In perhaps the youngest combination of starting keepers in the whole of English football, we have the showdown of Illan Meslier and James Trafford.
Both have come under scrutiny in recent times for their performances, however both possess incredible amounts of ability given their youth (in comparison to most starting keepers).
Illan Meslier has been Leeds’ starting goalkeeper since 2020, having joined for only £5million from Lorient, and has garnered a reputation as being a great shot stopper for such a young age.
However, this has not meant he has been free from criticism and this was especially compounded on the opening day fixture against Portsmouth in which the Frenchman conceded three goals from four shots on target.
In particular, near-post frailty and a tendency to punch rather than catch crosses has led to many an opposition chance or goal which remains a weakness in the Leeds backline.
It is unlikely, however, that Meslier loses his No 1 position between the sticks and tremendous saves such as from Dewsbury Hall away to Leicester and the one on one denial of Josh Sargent in the play-off semi-final remains proof of how good he can be on his day.
Very few goalkeepers have joined a side with a bigger reputation of form than when James Trafford joined Burnley at the beginning of last season.
Having placed himself in the League One Team of the Season with Bolton Wanderers in 2022/23, he then went on to become the first goalkeeper to not concede a goal in the European Under-21 Championships as England won the competition.
He became the third most expensive British keeper in history by joining Burnley for an initial £15million fee.
Despite a few stellar performances, such as against Brighton where he made 10 saves, Trafford was unable to replicate his previous form and was dropped in favour of Arijanet Muric towards the latter half of the season.
Despite no doubt being a talented keeper, it remains to be seen if Trafford can perform at the same level, both ability and confidence wise, and push his Burnley side to promotion.
Prediction
This remains an unpredictable clash that will no doubt have plenty of drama and attacking play.
Both sides have the individual quality that can win games by themselves - but my feeling is that it will be 2-2 come the final whistle.
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