Leeds United forward Pierre-Michel Lasogga has been ruled out of the squad against Middlesbrough with illness, according to a reliable journalist.
Yorkshire Evening Post’s chief writer Phil Hay has claimed on his personal Twitter account that the 25-year-old is not involved in the Whites match day squad on Sunday because of illness.
The centre-forward has been an ever-present in the team so far this season, but Thomas Christiansen is without him for the home clash against Boro.
Lasogga is ill so misses out of the 18. Ekuban back on the bench for the first time since Sunderland away. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) November 19, 2017
Leeds welcome Garry Monk’s Boro to Elland Road Sunday afternoon for what should be a fiery affair.
The Yorkshire giants have lost six of their last seven league matches and desperately need to pick up a win to get their promotion bid back on track.
Meanwhile, Boro have hit some good form lately and will be confident of picking up three points on the road.
Lasogga’s absence in the starting XI has meant that teammate Kemar Roofe has been given the task of leading the line against Boro.
OPINION
Lasogga will be a big miss on Sunday and having his big physical presence spearheading the attack is usually effective. The powerful striker has scored five goals in just 11 games so far this campaign and has been one of the standout performers under Christiansen. However, deploying Roofe will give the hosts a different feel to their attack and they should be able to break on their opponents a lot quicker. The 24-year-old has shown in the past that he has the quality in front of goal and quite often prefers a central role over his usual wide position. He should be looking for the ball in behind as both creative forces Samu Saiz and Pablo Hernandez can free him.