According to BBC Sport, Liam Cooper ‘could start’ for Leeds United against Tuesday night’s opponents Reading.
Cooper wasn’t in the Scotland squad when they played Kazakhstan on 19th November in their Euro 2020 Qualification match. The 28-year-old has been very important to Leeds so far this season, averaging a WhoScored rating of 6.98/10, which is the fifth-highest rating in the whole squad.
The Scotsman has played 13 games in the Championship this season, totalling up to 961 minutes of football. He also has some excellent defensive stats per game, making on average 1.4 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 2.6 clearances each match.
The head-to-head stats from the last six meetings between Leeds and Reading are very close, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side winning 50% of the matches and Mark Bowen’s winning 33%, with just one draw. Despite the results being close, the Whites have scored twice the amount of goals in the last six matches between the two sides.
Verdict
Cooper is one of the older players in the Leeds side, however, his experience and defensive prowess is what has made him one of the Peacock’s top players this season. The 28-year-old will likely start alongside Ben White, who is another player that hasn’t failed to impress so far this season, with the two centre-backs playing, fans should be very confident in keeping a clean sheet when they visit the Royals on Tuesday night.
With Eddie Nketiah likely to start training on Thursday, this Leeds squad is finally getting back to full fitness, meaning Bielsa has no excuse not to rotate some of the players from now on, which could also reduce future injury issues.