Sat 17th Feb
Kick-off 12:30

PLY Argyle

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LEE Leeds

Bali Mumba v Leeds United

Fixture Syncing

The Game 
Argyle v Leeds United. Home Park. Saturday, 17 February. 12.30pm. Sky Bet Championship.

The Opposition
Second-placed Leeds' current league form is absolutely astounding. Daniel Farke's men have won seven successive games, beating Birmingham City (3-0), Cardiff City (3-0), Preston North End (2-1), Norwich City (1-0), Bristol City (1-0), Rotherham United (3-0) and Swansea City (4-0). That is a record, during that time, of 17 goals scored, one conceded.

Amongst that impenetrable league record are two games against Argyle, in the Emirates FA Cup. The sides drew 1-1 at Elland Road, with Adam Randell equalising a Jaidon Anthony goal, before the replay at Home Park saw the sides finish level after 90 minutes by the same scoreline, with Willy Gnonto scoring for Leeds, and Brendan Galloway equalising. Leeds would go on to win 4-1 after extra-time, with goals from Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, and an own-goal. 

The Gaffer
Daniel Farke began his managerial career at SV Lippstadt, a club he played for during his playing career. He lifted Lippstadt from the sixth tier of German football to the fourth, and eventually took the job as the manager of Borussia Dortmund's second team. 

Daniel farke

In 2017, he joined Norwich City as manager, in the Championship, and won the second-tier title in his second season at Carrow Road. They were relegated straight away, but the following season topped the Championship once again. However, after a poor start, Farke was dismissed. 

After leaving Norwich, he signed a deal to take over at Krasnodar in Russia, but left before a game was played, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last season, with Borussia Monchengladbach, Farke led the side to a mid-table finish, and was sacked in the summer. 

The Squad
Leeds leading goalscorer is 22-year-old Crysensio Summerville, 22, who has 16 goals to his name this season.

The Dutchman began his career with Feyenoord but, although he had loan spells with Dordrecht and ADO Den Haag, left without playing for Feyenoord's first team. Summerville joined Leeds in the summer of 2020, but had his breakthrough season in 2022/23, playing 28 times in the Premier League, scoring four times.

Attacker Dan James was a prospect of the academy of Hull City, but made a switch to Swansea City, where he made his professional breakthrough. James attracted the attention of Leeds, and nearly signed for them, but the deal was not done before the January window of 2019 ended.

That summer, he instead joined Manchester United, for whom he played 74 times in three seasons. James finally moved to Leeds in August 2021, and has also had a loan spell at Fulham. He has ten goals this season. James has 49 caps for Wales, scoring six goals. 

James's Wales colleague Joe Rodon has played has played 29 league games for Leeds this season, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. Central defender Rodon, 26, has 42 international caps. 

Rodon (below) is another graduate from the Swansea academy, and moved to Spurs in 2020, but has only played 24 times for the North London side. He has also had a loan spell with Rennes. 

Joe radon

 

Tickets
If you have a season ticket and cannot attend, you can make your ticket available via the Ticket Exchange and receive face value credit if your ticket is resold. Find out more about the Ticket Exchange.

Argyle TV
Because of the game being streamed on Sky Sports, Argyle TV video passes are only available in certain territories. Please click here to find out the places where video streaming is available. 

Supporters in restricted territories, including the UK, can listen to commentary from Charlie Price and Ian Stonebridge once the action begins. Match passes are available, here.

Argyle TV’s pre-match show, hosted by Erin Black and Marc Edworthy, will begin at 11.30am, and is available to watch for free on YouTube.

Match passes to watch this game, wherever you are in the world, can be purchased here.

Essentials Collection

Argyle v Leeds United

Argyle 0

Leeds United 2
Gnonto 10
Rutter 73

Argyle were undone by two predatory contributions, either side of half-time, against a Leeds United team striving to make a swift return to the Premier League.

The Greens fell behind to a Wilfried Gnonto stabbed effort on just 10 minutes but quickly recovered to more than match their lofty visitors in the first half.

It was all Argyle immediately after the restart, as Leeds retreated into a defensive shell, but they broke the shackles, and Pilgrim hearts, with a decisive second from Georginio Rutter to seal the points.

Argyle Head Coach Ian Foster made four changes from the midweek draw with Coventry, with Jordan Houghton, Julio Pleguezuelo, Mickel Miller and Ben Waine replacing Brendan Galloway, Ryan Hardie, Lino Sousa and Darko Gyabi. After a spell out of the squad with injury, Mustapha Bundu was back on the Pilgrims' bench.

It is just ten days since a dramatic extra-time win for Leeds at Home Park in the FA Cup and the Yorkshiremen have enjoyed comfortable wins over Rotherham and Swansea in the past week but the Pilgrims were first to pose a question, Matty Sorinola’s dipping cross prompting momentary hesitation in the visiting defence.

Just as Argyle looked to settle into their Home Park rhythm, Leeds pinched the lead and that defensive hesitation was obviously contagious, as nobody in Green reacted to an innocuous ball into the penalty area, opening the door for Gnonto to prod past Conor Hazard.

The Greens quickly regrouped and a sweeping move through the lines released Miller for driving a run into the left channel and his deflected shot was saved at a stretch by the French custodian Illan Meslier.

Miller continued to be a thorn in the Leeds defence, drilling a cross that was hooked clear by Joe Rodon after mild claims for handball before the game dropped into a spell of midfield sparring.

Morgan Whittaker injected some creative energy with a clever cutback to Houghton from a free-kick and the engine room expert was unlucky to see his effort blocked. His midfield comrade, Adam Randell, then picked up a tactical booking for disrupting a counter by Glen Kamara.

Randell then showed the other side of his game, as Argyle recovered from a deflected Rutter strike against the post, with the homegrown Pilgrim feeding the ball wide to Miller for another low cross that only just eluded the onrushing Whittaker and Waine.

Half-time arrived with Argyle still very much in the game and it was Miller, once again, pinging over a cross that needed more hurried defending from the Leeds backline. Sorinola took inspiration from his wing-back partner, hooking over a cross that was nodded wide by Waine.

It was a last contribution for the New Zealand international, who was withdrawn for Hardie on the hour, as the Pilgrims sought to build on their growing momentum since the restart.

More Miller mayhem forced Meslier into a punched clearance but the Pilgrim siege was abruptly halted by a second goal for Leeds, Rutter breaking the box and firing a confident low finish beyond a stranded Hazard.

Argyle tried to respond with a driven Hardie cross blocked by a resolute Leeds defence before Foster called for a triple change, Mumba, Sousa and Galloway replacing Sorinola, Miller and Lewis Gibson. Bundu for Houghton was the final Argyle change.

Substitute Dan James struck the bar with a Leeds free-kick in stoppage time and Argyle must quickly dust down for the visit of West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday evening.

Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard; 4 Jordan Houghton (capt) (15 Mustapha Bundu 85), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 10 Morgan Whittaker, 14 Mickel Miller (3 Lino Sousa 81), 16 Alfie Devine, 17 Lewis Gibson (22 Brendan Galloway 81), 20 Adam Randell, 23 Ben Waine (9 Ryan Hardie 60), 26 Ashley Phillips, 29 Matty Sorinola (2 Bali Mumba 81). Substitutes (not used): 25 Callum Burton (gk), 6 Dan Scarr, 8 Joe Edwards, 35 Freddie Issaka.

Booked: Randell 38, Gibson 53

Leeds: 1 Illan Meslier; 3 Junior Firpo, 7 Joel Piroe, 8 Glen Kamara, 10 Crysencio Summerville (33 Connor Roberts 82), 14 Joe Rodon, 22 Archie Grey, 24 Georginio Rutter, 29 Wilfried Gnonto (20 Dan James 76), 44 Ilia Gruev. Substitutes (not used): 13 Kris Klaesson (gk), 40 Dani van den Heuvel (gk), 5 Charlie Cresswell, 6 Liam Cooper, 17 Jamie Shackleton, 30 Joe Gelhardt, 49 Mateo Joseph.

Booked: Rodon 88

Referee: Matthew Donohue

Attendance: 16,818, (1,739 away