When Marcelo Bielsa faced the media at his press conference ahead of the clash against Blackburn, he mentioned 19-year-old left-back Leif Davis’ potential starting chances.
When Beren Cross asked Bielsa: “Davis close to starting?” the Argentine responded by saying: “He is one option at left-back. We have in this position Alioski, Douglas, Dallas and Davis is another option. Good value. Inside the young players we have at Leeds he’s a very good player and he has good options in the future.”
This is positive news for the 19-year-old, as he hasn’t started in the Championship yet, however it looks as if the left-back is getting close.
When coming on against QPR, Davis managed an impressive WhoScored rating of 6.7/10. But what is he like over 90 minutes?
Davis played on the left-hand side of a back three in the cup match against Stoke. The 19-year-old played well, managing to assist Helder Costa when the Portuguese winger headed in Davis’ cross in the 81st minute. So despite playing as a centre-back in a 3-1-4-2, the young man still managed to contribute going forward, using his pace and creative on the wings.
The left-back also made a game-changing clearance in his only other start against Salford City on 13th August. Just 12 minutes into the game Davis was called upon, luckily he answered that call with an amazing goal-line clearance to keep the fixture 0-0 early on. Leeds went on to win that match 3-0 and progress to the next round.
The 180 minutes of cup football should be enough to prove any doubter wrong, the left-back played against two solid teams in Salford and Stoke and will have gained so much experience from doing so. To say he’ll start against Balckburn is optimistic, but something that might happen sooner rather than later.