Leicester City travel to Leeds United in a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash on Friday night and one man who will be up against a real test is James Justin.
After losing against Middlesbrough last weekend, Leicester City will be desperate to return to winning ways, although a match against Leeds isn’t the ideal scenario.
The Whites have pieced together an eight-match winning streak and have kept an impressive seven clean sheets in the process.
Defensively, they’ve been near faultless in recent times, but their attack under Daniel Farke has been electric all season and that is where Enzo Maresca must be wary.
How Leeds United could hurt Leicester City
In a packed-out Elland Road, Leeds will aim to start fast and keep the visitors penned in their own half.
Farke’s side are excellent at pressing in numbers to take control of a match but they are also dynamite on the counter-attack, and that is where they could hurt Leicester.
Through their attacking quartet of Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Wilfred Gnonto and Joel Piroe, who have plundered a staggering 43 goals between them in all competitions, Leeds have the tools to seriously cause City issues.
Farke instructs his wingers, Summerville and Gnonto to isolate their full back in one-on-one situations as that is where they thrive the most and can deliver telling quality.
Given how destructive Leeds are in wide areas, this places further importance on the roles of Ricardo Pereira and James Justin, who will need to deal with that threat.
While Pereira marauds into midfield to form a double pivot alongside Harry Winks, Justin is an out-and-out left-back.
The Englishman enjoys bursting down the left flank and impacting the game in the final third, but against Leeds, he’ll have to be at his best defensively against Gnonto.
Why James Justin must be at his best against Leeds United
James will need help from his winger Stephy Mavididi to double up on Gnonto as he’s been in devastating form as of late.
The Italian has scored four goals and supplied one assist in his last five matches, including a brace in the 4-0 win over Swansea City.
He’s cemented his spot on the right flank ahead of Dan James and Justin – who has been hailed as “outstanding” by journalist Josh Bunting previously – is presented with the unenvious task of shutting him down, although he has proven his worth in defensive situations.
While the 25-year-old is known for his attacking threat, he has made the third most tackles per game (2.2) and interceptions (1.2) in the Leicester squad.
Those defensive actions, in particular, suggest that Justin can more than handle himself against the 20-year-old, but he will still have to be on guard against his threat in behind, which will perhaps restrict him from an attacking sense.
Indeed, Justin vs Gnonto is a battle that could decide the outcome of the contest.