Leeds United will go into tonight's huge clash with Leicester City pumped up and ready to go, the Whites aiming to dent the table-topping side's confidence on their travels to Elland Road.
Leeds' unbelievable home record – which stands at 16 games unbeaten in total this season – could swing the contest in their favour.
Although, Enzo Maresca's side won't just give in to a confident Whites outfit owing to their obvious strengths which sees them nine points clear of Leeds at the top of the Championship table.
The Whites beating Plymouth Argyle 2-0 last time out shouldn't see Daniel Farke make significant changes for this bumper face-off, but Joel Piroe could face his manager's axe still after an average display at Home Park.
Joel Piroe's game vs Plymouth Argyle in numbers
Despite picking up an assist for Georginio Rutter to score a decisive second goal last time out, Piroe wasn't at his electric best in front of goal against Ian Foster's leaky Pilgrims.
The sub-par Leeds number seven would only muster up one shot on goal in the lunchtime kick-off, with the ex-Swansea City man bailed out by the likes of Rutter and Wilfried Gnonto who were ice-cold finishers when their team needed them to step up.
Piroe was just flat at Home Park, in truth, when it came to fulfilling his duties as a dangerous striker, with the 24-year-old attacker excelling more as a creative force in the 2-0 win.
The 6 foot 1 striker would end notching up two key passes and two successful dribbles in the game – with one of those key passes finding Rutter to strike home – but floundered when it came to taking the game by the scruff of its neck as a potent centre-forward himself.
Minutes played
89
Assists
1
Shots on goal
1
Touches
38
Possession lost
8x
Only amassing 38 touches too across his 89 minutes on the pitch, which saw Illan Meslier even come in with a greater total of 54, Piroe's solid spot in Farke's XI could no longer be secure if Leeds want to play with a gung-ho approach up next to catch Leicester cold.
Football journalist Graham Smyth did hand out a solid 6/10 match rating to Piroe despite the Dutchman going quiet for large portions of the game, but did state that Piroe 'struggled' in his role up top.
The German manager could well have a selection headache to resolve if he was to drop the skilful attacker, with the potential for Daniel James to return to the lineup in a reshuffled attacking quartet.
The player that could replace Joel Piroe
The most logical switch would see Rutter pushed into a striker spot for the huge game tonight against Leicester, freeing up the attacking midfield spot for someone else to shine.
With James touted for a return to the lineup after a promising cameo against the Pilgrims back from injury – hitting the cross-bar from a free-kick effort with the game all but over – Wilfried Gnonto could be moved centrally to accommodate his brilliance still even with the dynamic Welshman being back.
Leicester could well be taken by surprise to see Gnonto occupy this unfamiliar spot, the Italian attacker only starting in this position three times in total for the West Yorkshire titans to date, but it could be a bold call that pays off if the Foxes cannot deal with the attacking might on offer from Farke's men.
Leeds will see tonight's game against Leicester as a further opportunity to stamp their authority in the automatic promotion race, cutting the gap potentially between themselves and Maresca's first-placed side to six points.
Therefore, out-there selection calls such as these could see the over-confident Foxes unprepared for the task of overcoming Leeds with the Whites then picking up yet another win in 2024 to continue their march towards promotion.
