Eddie Nketiah made his seventh substitute appearance of the season for Leeds United on Saturday, as Patrick Bamford continues to start ahead of him.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 05: Patrick Bamford of Leeds looks dejected after the match during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Leeds United at The Den on October 05, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 05: Patrick Bamford of Leeds looks dejected after the match during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Leeds United at The Den on October 05, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

When Nketiah came onto the pitch on Saturday, there was already very little he could do to affect the result. Leeds were behind and down to 10 men, and the striker was given 28 minutes to change that. He didn’t have a single chance to score in that time.

At least that was better than the previous game against West Brom – when Nketiah didn’t get a minute. In all, the Arsenal loanee has made seven substitute appearances in the Championship, stayed on the bench twice, and started a total of zero matches.

In the EFL Cup, Nketiah started twice and scored twice, but Leeds were eliminated on penalties and his cup chances ended there.

Instead of Nketiah, Marcelo Bielsa has favoured Patrick Bamford, who last scored on August 24th. The striker has been given start after start in the league and now has a goal drought extending to six matches, all of which he played at least an hour in.

It’s not an easy job for Bielsa, as Nketiah hasn’t been scoring in every substitute appearance either. However, it’s only been 90 minutes since his last goal, and 439 since Bamford’s.

The manager’s hesitance to make a change appears to have slowed the momentum of both strikers right now, and Leeds are suffering for it.