Pablo Hernandez is set to be deployed as the Leeds United playmaker in their Championship clash against Aston Villa on Saturday, according to Phil Hay.
The Yorkshire Evening Post correspondent explained on his Inside Elland Road podcast why Marcelo Bielsa is set to hand the Spaniard the key playmaking role following Monday’s exit of Samuel Saiz to Getafe.
“You would assume Hernandez will get the number 10 gig at Villa, given it’s such a big game and they are such a dangerous side” Hay told the Inside Elland Road podcast (20:00).
OPINION
Despite Saiz’s loan-to-buy exit to Madrid, Leeds have a number of options for the central playmaking role in Sunday’s clash of the titans at Villa Park. Lewis Baker started in that position in last weekend’s 1-0 win against Bolton Wanderers, while Mateusz Klich has had a few run-outs there as well in the weeks that followed Saiz losing his regular starting role. Jamie Shackleton has also been mooted, although Bielsa will be loathe to move him up from right-back after the excellent impression he has made there in recent matches. But it was Hernandez who helped turn the game against Bolton with a delightful pass to Patrick Bamford after he was moved across from the right flank to the centre at the start of the second half. Hernandez has been used almost predominantly on the flanks since Saiz joined in the summer of 2017, and with huge success, but the enormity of the Villa clash means there are unlikely to be too many experiments, even from the unorthodox Bielsa.