Daniel Farke will be desperately hoping that the international break does not derail the momentum of a Leeds United side who have failed to win just one league game since the turn of the year.
The Whites return to action on Friday night. And for the first time this season, we go into a round of fixtures top of the table. But there is still a long way to go.
There are likely to be plenty of twists before the automatic-promotion places are decided in the Championship. And with that, there are going to be a number of surprises.
Not only will we see some bizarre results, but perhaps we will also see some surprises in who becomes a hero.
At the very end of the 2019/20 season, it was perhaps the performances of Pascal Struijk which came out of nowhere. The defender came on in trying circumstances in that horrible win against Barnsley and played the holding midfield role brilliantly.
Leeds youngster may have big role to play before season ends
And it was his showing in those final games which probably set the stage for Struijk to establish himself as a first-team player from the start of the next season. Struijk’s first league start at centre-back for Leeds actually came at Liverpool.
It will be interesting to see if anyone emerges this time around. But perhaps the most obvious contender, with the squad so settled right now, is Mateo Joseph.
Joseph has had a taste of first-team football in recent weeks. And of course, Joseph did brilliantly to score twice at Chelsea in the FA Cup.
He has taken that form on international duty, scoring for Spain’s under-21s during this break.
Chance to write his name in club folklore
Leeds have so much depth in attack right now. Patrick Bamford has been superb in recent months. Meanwhile, Joel Piroe has scored a lot of important goals.
But Joseph has the faith of Daniel Farke, too. And thus, it would be no surprise if he had plenty of opportunities in the coming weeks.
The margins are so tight that it may only take one goal at the right time for the 20-year-old to write his name into Leeds folklore.
