Leeds United goalkeeper Ilian Meslier has assured that he is ‘recovering well’, after missing out on a place in the club’s squad to take on Brighton today.
Maupay on target
Marcelo Bielsa’s men are currently locked in action with the Seagulls at Elland Road.
Leeds headed into proceedings in search of a bounce-back result, on the back of a pair of 3-0 drubbings over the course of the last fortnight.
Remarkably, after being put to the sword in comfortable fashion by Tottenham in the Premier League, the Whites were then ousted from the FA Cup last time out, after being torn apart by League Two outfit Crawley Town.
As things stand at Elland Road, however, things look set to go from bad to worse for this afternoon’s hosts.
Leeds trail Brighton by a goal to nil, on the back of Neal Maupay’s brilliantly worked 17th-minute opener:
Beautiful Brighton goal
Leeds are cut apart as Maupay finishes a wonderful Brighton move
Watch on Sky Sports PL
Follow #LEEBHA here: https://t.co/gU7Z1VIo2m
Download the @SkySports app! pic.twitter.com/jF6HFuUfIT— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 16, 2021
The Peacocks could then so easily have fallen 2 goals behind a short time later, only for Leandro Trossard’s deflected effort across goal to come back off the crossbar:
Brighton inches from a second!
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Follow #LEEBHA here: https://t.co/gU7Z1VIo2m
Download the @SkySports app! pic.twitter.com/TZceueNFNM— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 16, 2021
‘See you soon’
As such, it goes without saying that the efforts of Marcelo Bielsa’s men to get their form back on track this afternoon, to this point, have not gone according to plan.
As outlined above, however, their hopes were in fact dented long before Neal Maupay had opened the game’s scoring during the first-half.
Upon Leeds’ starting XI being announced an hour prior to kick-off, it quickly became clear that one of the club’s key performers was nowhere to be seen.
The individual in question? Ilian Meslier.
Your #LUFC Starting XI…
— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 16, 2021
The Frenchman has acted as first-choice between the posts at Elland Road throughout the campaign to date, with Kiko Casilla’s latest shaky display versus Crawley last weekend having made Meslier’s absence versus Brighton all the more concerning.
As outlined above, though, the gifted young shot-stopper has since taken to social media, to provide an explanation for his missing out this afternoon.
In a post on his official Instagram account, Meslier appeared to hint that he has tested positive for Covid-19, explaining:
‘Sorry to miss today’s [game]. Right behind you all the way boys. Thank you to the fans for all the support, I’m recovering well.’
‘Please stay safe. See you soon.’
Meslier on Insta pic.twitter.com/jtnO0WEVR4
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) January 16, 2021
Official word regarding Meslier’s wellbeing is expected to be forthcoming post-match this evening.
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