Leeds United handed huge injury boost ahead of Arsenal, Jesse Marsch will be buzzing - opinion

Leeds United have been handed a potentially huge boost ahead of their Premier League meeting with Arsenal this Sunday.

In comments made before Leeds’ 4-0 defeat against Manchester City on Saturday (via The Mirror), Jesse Marsch revealed that he expects the centre-forward, who has not featured since rupturing his plantar fascia in the 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in March, to return to the pitch this week – something that would appear to suggest the 28-year-old could be in line for a return to action against Arsenal this weekend.

Regarding the England international’s recovery from injury, the 48-year-old manager said: “Patrick has been making progress and we are still hopeful we can see him later in the season. I suspect and probably expect that he will be on the pitch next week. Let’s see and we have to be cautious, but we are all optimistic about Patrick at this point.”

Considering how important a part of the Leeds side Bamford has proven himself to be in recent years, the news that the striker looks as if he could make a return to first-team football sooner rather than later is sure to have left Marsch buzzing.

While a series of injuries have severely hampered the 28-year-old’s game time this season – having made just nine appearances in the Premier League, over which he has scored two goals – the forward’s returns last time out demonstrated just how crucial he is in the Whites attack.

Indeed, over his 38 Premier League fixtures last term, the £18m-rated hitman highly impressed throughout Leeds’ first campaign back in the top flight, bagging 17 goals, providing seven assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.8 shots and making 0.8 key passes per game.

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