The No. 9 hitman of Leeds United Patrick Bamford has always been the go-to man for the club by giving consistent performances day in and day out. His stats for 20-21 PL season speak for itself where he scored 17 goals including goals against title-contending clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City, and provided eight assists.
His 2021-22 season was off to a decent start where he scored a goal and gave a couple of assists in the first 5 games. He last appeared in the 1-1 game against Newcastle United where he gave an assist but picked up an ankle injury and was ruled out for four weeks.
He has missed the last eight games and hasn’t been on the pitch since September 17. No hope for the Leeds fans to see him on the pitch in the near future as the Leeds boss Marcos Bielsa when asked about Bamford’s return said, “It’s all subject to his evolution. It’s the problem in his ankle. The time of his diagnosis has not been fulfilled yet. It’s not a simple injury and because of the disappearance of the pain or the tolerance of the pain, we can’t give an exact prognosis. The response I give when I say it’s subject to his evolution, don’t let it be interpreted as me not giving all the information I possess. The injuries like this, their prognosis, when he will be available to play, can’t be given exactly.”
Injury expert Ben Dinnery is football’s leading injury specialist. The ‘go-to’ guru for big hitters like Sky Sports, ESPN, and NBC Sports when they need data, who runs the Premier Injuries site also stated, “Bamford himself said before the last international break that he fully expects to be back on the training pitch, doing some straight-line running. He thought he had a good chance of featuring in-game week eight. Here we are a month down the line and it feels like he hasn’t moved further forward. He certainly won’t be fit immediately after the international break. He’ll need to return to training and get up to speed first. Bielsa has his own strict regimented guidelines on where he needs his players to be before they’re thrown back in. Bamford will need two or three weeks of solid training after the international break under his belt before he’s thrown back in.”
Leeds finished ninth in the Premier League last season but this season has been tough for them as they are lingering near the relegation zone and without their hitman and a tough series of fixtures lined up, they’ll have to fight their way through to sustain in the Premier League.
