Four-time international axed in Christiansen 4-2-3-1: Leeds best possible XI v Bolton
COMMENT By Will Butcher
Thomas Christiansen must drop Pablo Hernandez if he is to gain three points in his first game in charge of Leeds against Bolton on Sunday, at the Macron Stadium.
The Spanish manager has plenty of decisions to make in terms of his starting line-up after completing 10 new first-team signings this summer, with Pontus Jansson and Hadi Sacko joining permanently.
The former APOEL Nicosia manager will be desperate to get off to a winning start and the best way of doing that is dropping four-time Spain international Hernandez.
In place of the ex-Swansea and Valencia ace should come new signing Samu Saiz, who owner Andrea Radrizzani has paid a huge £3.5million to sign from Spanish second tier side Huesca.
Fellow new signings Felix Wiedwald, Matthew Pennington, Vurnon Anita and Ezgjan Alioski should join Saiz in making their competitive debuts for the club in Leeds’ best possible side.
German stopper Wiedwald joined the club despite being a regular at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, and that is enough to suggest he offers more than Rob Green.
Luke Ayling was one of Leeds’ most consistent performers last season, and he should start at right-back with Gaetano Berardi covering the left-back area after Charlie Taylor joined Burnley.
Sweden international Jansson is suspended and should be replaced by Pennington and Liam Cooper, with both defenders looking to prove they can partner Jansson when his suspension is over.
Christiansen is likely to use a 4-2-3-1 system and sitting in front of the defence should be new signing Anita, who will look to marshal the space between defence and midfield.
Alongside him must be teenager Ronaldo Vieira, who adopts a move box-to-box approach and the duo would go well together.
Saiz would sit in front of the duo, with Kemar Roofe and Alioski the best two options to find the ammunition for top scorer Chris Wood in the final third.
In other Leeds news, the Whites should join a Championship quartet by moving for this striker.
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