Phil Hay urges Jesse Marsch to take a 'gamble' on £74k-p/w leader as Leeds battle relegation

Leeds United may have to take a ‘gamble’ on Patrick Bamford in the final few games of the season, The Athletic‘s Phil Hay has said.

The 28-year-old last featured for the Whites in the 3-2 victory over Wolves back on 18 March. He was forced off 23 minutes into that game with a foot injury and has missed the five matches since.

Jesse Marsch’s team fell into the relegation zone on Sunday after they lost 2-1 to Arsenal and positional rivals Everton won at Leicester City. Their final three fixtures against Chelsea (Wednesday), Brighton (Sunday) and Brentford (22 May) are now set to decide their Premier League fate.

As it stands, Bamford and Liam Cooper are Leeds’ only short-term absentees, with Stuart Dallas, Tyler Roberts, Adam Forshaw and Crysencio Summerville all ruled out for the season.

Taking to The Athletic‘s matchday discussion board on Sunday, Hay said that Marsch may have to rush Bamford back in order to address a lack of goals in the Leeds squad.

The journalist admitted: “To be quite honest, I feel like they’re going to have to gamble on Patrick Bamford in the last couple of games. It doesn’t feel like Leeds have enough goals in them at the moment.”

How have Leeds fared in this most recent five-game stretch without Bamford?

They have picked up five points courtesy of a win at Watford and draws with Southampton and Crystal Palace, but they’ve only managed to score five goals in that time, backing up Hay’s concern.

The 28-year-old has only been fit enough to start seven games over the season as a whole, and that has seen Daniel James and Rodrigo each play 14 matches as a centre-forward. The pair have managed to score just 10 goals between them, whereas Bamford managed 17 on his own in 2020/21.

Leeds would appear to