The Athletic journalist Phil Hay has recently talked about the possibility of Leeds appealing the red card given to Liam Cooper last weekend.
On the latest episode of The Phil Hay Show, he spoke about multiple topics involving the Whites. One particular discussion was over the club’s win against Manchester City and whether Leeds could appeal the red card that Cooper had received at the Etihad Stadium.
Hay believes that the Scotsman’s tackle was out of control and while he did get the ball in the challenge, he made some contact with Gabriel Jesus’ knee. As a result, Leeds don’t feel that they have enough grounds to appeal the tackle.
Despite Cooper’s sending off, the Whites did pick up a 2-1 win over Pep Guardiola’s men. They now find themselves at 10th in the Premier League and level on points with ninth-placed Arsenal.
Should Leeds appeal Cooper's red card?
Yes
No
Hay also made it clear that while the tackle wasn’t a great one, it was similar to what Sam Baldock did to Tyler Roberts in Leeds’ win over Sheffield United.
The journalist claimed: “These things always look worse in slow-motion, but it’s not under control and he does get the ball first, but he does then go through Jesus’ knee. His boot is at kind of thigh height. And it’s not a great tackle, and on the basis of that Leeds haven’t bothered appealing, you can tell that they don’t think there’s any grounds to contest it, but in no way was it worse than what Baldock did to Taylor Roberts at Elland Road.”
TIF Thoughts on Cooper…
While Cooper has been a regular for Leeds in the current campaign by picking up a pretty good rating of 7.02/10 (as per WhoScored), Bielsa’s men had Pascal Struijk and Robin Koch coming on to see out a win over City following his dismissal. That suggests they might not have too many problems replacing the Scot.
Diego Llorente has now become a regular at the back after a period of injury issues. So not having Cooper available for the next few games might not be a huge problem for Leeds.
In other news: ‘Speaking to other people at the club’ – Phil Hay reveals key Bielsa tweak behind-scenes at LUFC