One of Leeds United’s worst nightmares has come true.

The Whites will be without Kalvin Phillips for the next six weeks after picking up a shoulder injury against Wolves.

There are numerous issues that are going to arise due to Phillips’ absence, but one thing that may become increasingly evident is one shortcoming in Mateusz Klich’s game.

We spoke last week about how Klich’s tendency to be dribbled past could become a problem if Phillips was to miss a sustained period, and unfortunately, this issue has arisen.

Klich is quite easy to bypass in the midfield, being dribbled past 2.4 times per game on average, which makes him sixth-worst player in the division for that metric, but he’s been lucky enough to have Phillips doing an incredible amount of work behind him to atone for his inability to stop dribblers.

Indeed, Phillips averages 3.4 tackles per game, which makes him the seventh-most effective tackler in the league, but now that he’s out of action, Leeds will struggle to find someone who can have that same defensive impact.

This means that Klich’s inability to stop dribblers in the middle of the park will become a lot more noticeable as these runs may result in shots on goal or set-pieces high up the pitch due to the fact that Phillips isn't there to stop the attacks.

Klich has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water in an attacking sense providing two goals and one assist in five appearances so far, and while his defensive prowess has been questionable, it’s been masked by Phillips’ brilliance.

The Pole, valued at £3.15m, now doesn’t have the safety net of Phillips behind him, and while he was described as a ‘player you can trust’ by Darren Bent earlier this year, he may be something of a liability going forward, unless he becomes more aggressive in the middle of the park.

This wasn’t such an issue in the Championship as Klich was dribbled past just 1.3 times per game, but it seems as though the pace of the Premier League has left him struggling, and that’s something he now needs to adjust to very quickly.