OPINION
Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa is set to name a heavily changed line-up to play Stoke in the second round of the Carabao Cup at Elland Road on Tuesday night.
It will be the second time Leeds have played Nathan Jones’ side in days and the odds on the sportsbetting24 are heavily in their favour after beating them 3-0 on Saturday at the bet365 Stadium in the Championship.
Stoke will now get a crack at the Leeds second-string side and one of the players Bielsa is considering is 19-year-old midfielder Jordan Stevens.
Talking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the first game against Stoke (as quoted by Leeds.Live) Bielsa said, “We have a lot of matches in the month of August. Very probably the next game on Tuesday a lot of players who didn’t play before will be in the squad.
“In this moment I am focusing on three wingers. They are putting in good performances, but Clarke will be in or be a substitute of one of them.
“Jordan Stevens is another option.”
Next breakthrough player?
Stevens hasn’t had much first-team experience for Leeds. In fact, ironically, his only competitive minutes came in the 2-1 loss to Stoke in January this year. Stevens came on for Mateusz Klich with 14 minutes to go and the score at 1-0 to Stoke.
Stevens made the bench another five times last season without making it onto the pitch.
He did feature in pre-season and the rest of his first-team experience came at League Two club Forest Green, where he played before signing for Leeds in January 2018.
He was highly-rated back then, with Premier League sides Everton and Brighton also looking to snap up the youngster before Leeds beat them to the punch.
Since then, he’s been impressing in Carlos Corberan’s Under-23 side. A year before his run on the bench in the first-team, Stevens was wowing Leeds fans with one saying it wouldn’t be long before he was in the first-team squad.
If he gets a shot, tonight will represent a big chance for Stevens to show what he can do.
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What does he bring?
Stevens has played in central midfield and out on the right but was utilised by Bielsa on the right-wing in pre-season against Man United and Western Sydney Wanderers.
His longest outing was against Sydney, where he played almost a full 45 minutes on the right. According to WyScout, he put in five crosses in that time and was successful in both of his dribble attempts. He made three shot assists, won 75% of his four offensive duels and had four touches in the box.
He’s scored one senior goal in his career, for Forest Green in the EFL Trophy against Cheltenham, where he beat the keeper with a low drive from outside the right-hand side of the penalty box. He may well get a chance to add to that in the EFL Cup tonight.